UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
MAR  15  1893 l8g 

Accessions  No.  S~O55~I  .      Class  No. 


REESE   LIBRARY 


1 


Pii&ifc 


WATER  -  WASTE    PREVENTION 

ITS    IMPORTANCE 

AND 

THE    EVILS    DUE   TO    ITS    NEGLECT. 


WITH    AN    ACCOUNT   OF   THE    METHODS    ADOPTED    IN    VARIOUS 
CITIES  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


BY 

HENRY    C.    MEYER, 

EDITOR  OF  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER. 


WITH  AN  APPENDIX. 


NEW  YORK  : 
THE    SANITARY   ENGINEER. 

1885. 


Copyright,  1885 
BY  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER. 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER   PRESS, 
140  WILLIAM  STREET,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE. 

DURING  the  summer  of  1882  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY 
ENGINEER  carefully  investigated  the  methods  employed  in 
various  cities  in  Great  Britain  for  curtailing  the  waste  of  water  without 
subjecting  the  respective  communities  to  either  inconvenience  or  a 
limited  allowance.  The  results  of  this  investigation  appeared  in  a 
series  of  articles  entitled  "  New  York's  Water-Supply,"  the  purpose 
being  to  present  to  the  readers  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  such  facts 
as  would  stimulate  public  sentiment  in  support  of  the  enforcement  of 
measures  tending  to  prevent  the  excessive  waste  of  water  so  prevalent 
in  American  cities,  and  especially  the  city  of  New  York,  which  was  then 
suffering  from  a  short  supply. 

Numerous  requests  for  information,  together  with  the  recent 
popular  agitation  in  connection  with  a  proposition  to  increase  the 
powers  of  the  Water  Department  of  New  York  City  with  a  view  to 
enabling  it  to  restrict  the  waste  of  water,  have  suggested  the  desirability 
of  reprinting  these  articles  in  a  more  convenient  and  accessible  form, 
with  data  giving  the  results  of  efforts  in  this  direction  in  American 
cities  since  the  articles  first  appeared,  so  far  as  they  have  come  to  the 
author's  notice  ;  and  also  to  furnish  information  regarding  the  enforce- 
ment of  needed  regulations  to  which  there  might  be  more  or  less 
opposition  due  to  misapprehension.  A  careful  perusal  of  this  record  of 
the  experience  of  other  cities  will  indicate  that  it  is  entirely  feasible  to 
control  and  improve  the  character  of  the  water-fittings  and  plumbing- 
work  without  requiring  the  use  of  patented  appliances,  and  that  no 
special  system  for  all  places  is  recommended. 

If  the  publication  of  this  little  book  increases  the  popular  appre- 
ciation of  an  urgent  public  necessity,  and  tends  to  secure  for  water- 
works officials  who  are  striving  to  do  their  duty  in  the  matter  of 
restricting  the  waste  of  water,  the  support  of  influential  members  of 
their  Community,  the  author  will  feel  amply  repaid  -for  the  labor 
involved  in  gathering  and  presenting  this  information. 

NEW  YORK,  May,  1885.  H.  C.  M. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. — CONDITION  OF  NEW  YORK'S  WATER-SUPPLY. 

Mr.  Thomas  Hawksley  on  Advantages  of  Waste-Prevention — 
Condition  of  Water-Supply  in  England  Thirty  Years  Ago— Means 
Adopted  to  Prevent  Waste  in  Great  Britain — Norwich  First  City  in 
England  to  Adopt  Measures  of  Prevention — London,  the  Practice 
There 7-10 

CHAPTER  II. — GLASGOW. 

District  Meters  Tried  as  an  Experiment — Results  of  Experiments — 
Prevalence  of  Defective  Fittings — Testing  and  Stamping  of  Fittings — 
Rules  Governing  Plumbers'  Work 11-14 

CHAPTER  III. — MANCHESTER. 

History  of  Waste-Prevention  Measures — Methods  of  House-to-House 
Inspection — Duties  of  Inspectors — Methods  of  Testing  and  Stamping 
Fittings 15-18 

CHAPTER  IV. — LIVERPOOL. 

Change  from  Intermittent  to  Constant  Supply — Method  of  Ascer- 
taining Locality  of  Waste  by  Use  of  District  Meters — Method  of 
House  Inspection — Method  of  Testing  Fittings I9~24 

CHAPTER  V. — PROVIDENCE  AND  CINCINNATI. 

Review  of  Measures  to  Prevent  Water- Waste  in  the  United  States 
prior  to  1882 — Providence,  R.  I.,  Results  following  the  General  Use  of 
Meters — Cincinnati,  Methods  of  House  Inspection  with  the  aid  of 
the  Waterphone — Results  Attained 25-30 

CHAPTER  VI. — NEW  YORK. 

Measures  Adopted  by  the  Department  of  Public  Works  prior  to 
1882 31-33 


CHAPTER  VII. — GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS. 

Points  to  be  Considered  in  Adopting  Measures  for  Large  Cities 34~37 

APPENDIX. — POINTS  SUGGESTED   IN   THE   CONSIDERATION  OF 
VARIOUS  METHODS. 

Water-Waste  Prevention  in  Boston  in  1883  and  1884 — Results  at- 
tained    39-46 

Waste-Prevention  in  New  York  City 46-48 

Liverpool  Corporation  Water- Works  Regulations 40-5 1 

Glasgow  Corporation  Water- Works  Regulations — Description  of  Stan- 
dard Fittings — Penalties  for  Violations 51-57 

Cistern  versus  Valve  Supply  to  Water-Closets  in  New  York  City — New 
York  Board  of  Health  Regulations  concerning  Water-Supply  to  Water- 
Closets  57-70 

Letters  from  Water-Works  Authorities  sustaining  the  action  of  the  New 
York  Board  of  Health  in  requiring  Cistern  Supply  to  Water-Closets 58-61 

Extracts  from  Report  of  Boston  City  Engineer  on  Wasteful  Water- 
Closets  63-64 

Proposed  Water-Rates  on  Water-Closets  in  New  York 64-65 

Resolutions  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Health  endorsing  the  proposed 
Water-Rates  for  Water-Closets 66 

Excerpts  from  Articles  explaining  Methods  of  Arranging  Water-Supply 
to  Water-Closets  to  secure  the  Minimum  Water-Rate  in  New  York  (with  . 
Illustrations) 66-70 


CHAPTER 


CONDITION  OF  NEW  YORK'S  WATER-SUPPLY. 

MR.  THOMAS  HAWKSLEY  ON  ADVANTAGES  OF  WASTE-PREVENTION — CON- 
DITION    OF    WATER-SUPPLY    IN     ENGLAND    THIRTY    YEARS   AGO 
— MEANS     ADOPTED    TO     PREVENT    WASTE     IN    GREAT 
BRITAIN — NORWICH  FIRST  CITY  IN  ENGLAND 
TO    ADOPT    MEASURES    OF    PREVEN- 
TION— LONDON,  THE  PRAC- 
TICE   THERE. 

THE  condition  of  New  York  with  reference  to  its  water-supply  has 
frequently  been  referred  to  in  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  during  the  past 
three  years,*  and  the  situation  of  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Cincinnati, 
to  mention  no  smaller  places,  has  suggested  the  propriety  of  reviewing 
the  experiences  of  other  cities  in  their  attempts  to  husband  their 
resources  in  the  matter  of  water-supply.  We  have  for  some  years 
looked  into  the  question  of  water-waste  prevention,  and  during  the  past 
summer  have  spent  considerable  time  in  investigating  the  methods 
adopted  in  the  cities  of  Great  Britain,  with  a  view  to  being  able  to  form 
an  intelligent  opinion  as  to  the  best  practicable  methods  that  might  be 
employed  in  New  York,  making  due  allowance  for  the  great  difference 
in  local  conditions,  as  to  the  habits  and  requirements  of  water  consumers 
and  the  methods  of  municipal  administration.  Briefly  stated,  the  con- 
dition of  New  York  is  as  follows :  The  Croton  aqueduct  began  deliver- 
ing water  to  this  city  to  its  fullest  safe  capacity  ten  years  ago.  That 
capacity  was  about  ninety-five  million  gallons  daily.  To  furnish  this 
amount  of  water  the  flow-line  in  the  aqueduct  has  been  maintained  at  a 
point  nearly  two  feet  higher  than  the  designers  and  constructors  of  the 
aqueduct  anticipated  when  it  was  built.  The  strain  occasioned  thereby 
has,  therefore,  been  a  matter  of  deep  solicitude  on  the  part  of  the 
engineers  whose  duty  has  been  the  maintenance  of  the  conduit. 

During  the  past  ten  years  the  population  of  this  city  has  increased 
about  three  hundred  and  ten  thousand.  Manufactures,  hydraulic- 

*  Written  in  1882. 


8 

elevators,  and  other  demands  upon  the  limited  amount  of  water  have 
multiplied  at  an  enormous  rate,  and  no  doubt  faster  than  all  has  the 
waste  increased. 

Besides  all  this,  during  the  fall  of  1881  it  was  made  painfully 
apparent  that  the  storage  capacity  of  the  Croton  reservoir  was  inade- 
quate, and  while  in  ordinary  times  the  flow  over  the  dam  into  the 
Hudson  averaged  during  the  past  eighteen  years  three  hundred  thou- 
sand gallons  daily,  yet  this  average  was  of  no  avail  in  a  period  of 
extended  drought.  From  the  opinions  of  the  ablest  hydraulic  engineers 
in  this  country  it  is  evident  that  the  present  Croton  water-shed  is  ample 
for  the  present  and  future  needs  of  this  city,  provided,  however,  that 
additional  storage  capacity  be  arranged  for  and  an  additional  conduit 
be  provided  to  carry  the  water  to  this  city. 

As  a  matter  of  immediate  concern,  the  following  articles  will  be 
confined  to  the  description  of  methods  by  which  present  and  future 
suffering  can  be  mitigated,  and  that  is  ncthing  more  or  less  than  the 
prevention  of  waste,  tor  even  should  the  work  of  building  a  new 
aqueduct  be  begun  at  once,  it  will  probably  be  seven  years  before  an 
additional  gallon  of  water  can  be  delivered  through  it  ;  meanwhile  the 
probabilities  of  suffering  are  not  pleasant  to  contemplate. 

The  consumption  of  water  in  New  York,  with  the  present  reduced 
pressure  in  the  mains,  is  about  seventy-five  gallons  daily  for  each  inhabi- 
tant, which  amount  is  nearly  three  times  as  great  as  Liverpool  and  Man- 
chester use  with  their  greatly  increased  pressure.  There,  is  no  doubt 
that,  after  making  the  most  liberal  allowance  for  the  difference  in  the 
habits  and  usage  of  our  people,  fully  forty  gallons  per  head  are  wasted, 
and  of  this  amount  twenty-five  gallons  at  least  may  be  considered  as 
preventable  waste. 

At  the  ratio  of  increase  of  population  during  the  past  ten  years, 
another  seven  years  will  add  two  hundred  thousand  to  our  numbers, 
which  means  a  decrease  of  nearly  one-fifth  in  the  water-pressure  now 
maintained. 

It  is  obvious,  then,  that  in  order  to  supply  the  demands  of  this 
increased  population  and  retain  the  present  inadequate  pressure,  one- 
fifth  of  the  amount  delivered,  or  about  twenty  million  gallons  daily,  must 
be  saved  from  the  amount  now  wasted,  and  it  is  a  matter  much  to  be 
regretted  that  so  little  has  yet  been  done  in  that  direction. 

As  an  illustration  of  what  maybe  accomplished  under  proper  regu- 
lation to  suppress  water-waste,  we  quote  from  an  address  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Hawksley,  past  President  of  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers,  delivered 
at  Liverpool,  in  1876  : 


"The  necessity  for  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  and  uniformly  applied 
system  of  rules  and  regulations  is  manifested  by  the  results  of  their 
application  or  otherwise  in  towns  of  a  generally  similar  character. 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  two  such  towns.  In  the  former,  where  no 
efficient  regulations  are  in  use,  the  quantity  delivered  is  eighty  gallons 
per  head  ;  in  the  latter,  where  efficient  regulations  are  in  use,  the  quan- 
tity delivered  is  eighteen  gallons." 

Thirty  years  ago  the  water-supply  of  nearly  every  English  city  was 
on  the  intermittent  plan,  it  being  supposed  that  under  a  constant  service 
the  waste  would  be  so  great  that  the  water  companies  would  be  unable 
to  keep  up  the  supply.  In  cities,  therefore,  where  a  scarcity  of  water 
was  imminent,  and  with  very  little  prospect  of  an  early  increase,  attention 
was  turned,  as  it  never  is  in  times  of  plenty,  to  the  adoption  of  measures 
for  the  suppression  of  waste. 

The  means  adopted  in  Great  Britain  to  check  waste  are  substantially 
three  : 

First — Intermittent  supply,  and  an  efficient  inspection  and  super- 
vision over  fittings  and  plumbing-work. 

Second — Testing  and  stamping  of  all  fittings,  rigid  rules  to  govern 
the  plumbing-work,  inspection  before  water  is  turned  on,  and  house-to- 
house  inspection  periodically  thereafter. 

Third — The  Liverpool  plan,  which  is  to  have  district  meters  in  the 
streets  in  order  to  localize  the  waste,  rigid  and  persistent  inspection, 
careful  testing  and  stamping  of  every  fitting  used,  and  inspection  of  the 
plumbing-work  periodically  thereafter. 

Norwich  was  the  first  city  in  England  to  secure  parliamentary  powers 
to  adopt  and  enforce  rules  controlling  the  character  of  the  water-fittings 
and  the  plumbing.  This  was  made  necessary,  as  the  consumption  had  so 
increased  that  the  intermittent  supply  had  to  be  reverted  to.  The  con- 
sumption had  then  risen  to  what  in  England  is  regarded  the  enormous 
amount  of  forty  imperial  gallons  per  head  daily — about  forty-eight 
United  States  gallons.  Under  the  direction  of  the  eminent  hydraulic 
engineer,  Mr.  Thomas  Hawksley,  parliamentary  powers  were  sought 
and  obtained,  rules  were  prepared  and  enforced,  defective  mains 
replaced,  and  waste  stopped  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  consumption 
was  brought  to  fifteen  gallons  per  head — less  than  one-third  the  former 
amount — and  the  constant  service  was  restored  and  has  ever  since  been 
maintained. 

Many  other  cities  sought  and  secured  the  power  to  regulate  the  use 
of  water-supply  fittings  and  control  the  manner  of  doing  the  plumbing- 
work,  and  the  essential  features  of  the  Norwich  Water- Works  rules  are 


IO 

embodied  in  every  set  of  water-works  regulations  in  Great  Britain,  while 
as  a  matter  of  fact  hardly  a  single  one  of  them  obtains  in  any  American 
city. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  powers  to  regulate  these  matters 
were  easily  obtained  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  fought  inch  by  inch,  and 
were  only  secured  by  most  persistent  effort  and  the  expenditure  of  large 
sums  of  money  by  the  .various  companies.  As  an  instance,  we  would  cite 
the  case  of  the  adoption  of  the  rules  to  govern  fittings  and  methods  of 
plumbing  in  Sheffield.  The  hearing  before  the  magistrates,  who  by  the 
act  of  Parliament  were  required  to  sanction  them,  continued  thirteen 
days  and  cost  the  water  company  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

In  London  the  water  is  supplied  entirely  by  private  companies,  and 
with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  the  supply  is  yet  intermittent.  Being 
private  corporations,  they  have  not  been  able  to  secure  such  control 
over  the  fittings  and  the  plumbing-work  as  some  of  the  other  cities 
possess,  due,  probably,  to  the  fact  that  powers  of  the  kind  sought  are  not 
readily  granted  to  any  but  municipal  authorities.  The  rules  under 
which  they  now  act  were  adopted  about  1873,  and  required  the  sanction 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  who  appointed  as  commissioners,  to  confer  with 
the  water-works'  managers,  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  Captain  Tyler,  and 
Mr.  Robert  Rawlinson. 

The  original  demands  of  the  water  companies  were  considered 
excessive  and  were  strongly  resisted.  They  were  modified  by  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  finally  agreed  to.  Being  private  corporations,  the  feeling 
against  the  water  companies  is  much  like  that  against  gas  companies. 
The  managers,  therefore,  in  order  to  prevent  controversies,  and  relying 
on  their  intermittent  service  to  restrict  consumption,  are  more  lax  in  the 
enforcement  of  their  published  rules  than  are  the  authorities  of  Liver- 
pool, Manchester,  and  Glasgow.  The  result  is  that  many  so-called 
waste-preventing  devices  are  used  in  London,  and  winked  at,  that  are 
not  permitted  in  the  other  places,  the  effect  of  which,  however,  is  to 
afford  a  market  for  the  inventors  of  new  things. 


CHAPTER  II. 


GLASGOW. 

DISTRICT    METERS     TRIED     AS     AN     EXPERIMENT RESULTS    OF     EXPERI- 
MENTS  PREVALENCE     OF    DEFECTIVE    FITTINGS TESTING 

AND     STAMPING     OF    FITTINGS RULES   GOV- 
ERNING PLUMBERS'  WORK. 

GLASGOW  is  favored  with  what  is  now  considered  an  abundant 
water-supply,  and  this  happy  condition  is  due  to  the  successful  effort 
of  Mr.  Gale,  the  Water  Engineer,  to  suppress  waste.  The  practice  is  to 
require  plumbing  fittings  to  conform  to  a  standard  set  by  the  Chief 
Engineer,  to  have  the  plumbing  of  each  house  examined  before  water  is 
turned  on,  and  periodically  thereafter. 

Some  years  since,  when  Glasgow  was  threatened  with  a  scarcity  of 
water,  increased  powers  and  funds  were  allowed  the  Chief  Engineer  to 
secure  the  suppression  of  waste,  and  the  results  are  stated  at  length  in 
Stewart's  paper  on  "  Prevention  of  Waste  of  Water." 

In  certain  localities,  district  meters  were  applied  by  way  of  experi- 
ment. These  showed  that  it  was  possible  to  reduce  an  average  consump- 
tion of  59.2  gallons  (imperial)  per  head  per  twenty-four  hours  to  26.6 
gallons.  The  night  rates,  which  had  been  45.0,  were  reduced  to  10.8. 

These  gratifying  results  secured  the  extension  of  this  system  to 
forty-one  sub-districts,  and  we  quote  the  following  from  the  paper  read 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Stewart  at  the  Institution  of  Civil  Engineers  : 

"  A  few  of  the  more  striking  results  are  given  here  : 


NUMBER  OF  DISTRICTS. 

AT  STARTING  OF  METERS. 

AFTER  THE  THREE  FIRST 
INSPECTIONS. 

Total. 
Gallons. 

Night  rate  per  24 
hours. 
Gallons. 

Total. 
Gallons. 

Night  rate  per  24 
hours. 
Gallons. 

I.  2.. 

81.8 
68.3 
over  70.0 
41.6 
61.0 

64.0 

45-7 
over  70.0 
27.4 
55-0 

34-1 
31.9 
35-5 
27.4 
47.2 

9.9 
15-0 

17-5 
8-3 
23.8 

I.  3.  . 

II.  2    . 

IV.2  

IV.6 

"  In  seventeen  districts,  at  the  starting  of  the  meters,  the  consump- 
tion per  head  per  twenty-four  hours  was  60  gallons,  or  more  ;  in  eleven 


12 


of  these  it  was  reduced  by  the  first  three  inspections  below  40  gallons. 
In  twenty-five  districts  at  the  starting  of  the  meters,  the  night  rate  per 
twenty-four  hours  exceeded  40  gallons  ;  it  was  reduced  below  20  gallons 
by  the  first  three  inspections. 

"  Appendix  III.  shows  that,  at  the  starting  of  the  meters,  the  aver- 
age consumption  for  all  purposes  was  49  gallons  per  head  per  twenty- 
four  hours,which  was  reduced  to  32  gallons  by  the  first  three  inspections  ; 
the  corresponding  night  rates  were  37.7  and  17.5  gallons.  The  night 
rates,  however,  are  exaggerated,  on  account  of  the  pressure  being  much 
higher  at  night  than  during  the  day.  On  the  6th  of  January,  1881,  the 
consumption  was  33.3  gallons,  which  shows  a  saving  of  13.7  gallons  per 
head  ;  or,  if  the  whole  district  under  control  be  considered,  the  saving  is 
1,114,317  gallons  per  twenty-four  hours,  equal  to  1.48  gallon  per  head 
of  the  whole  population  in  the  area  of  supply.  If  a  saving  of  13.7 
gallons  per  head  was  made  over  the  whole  of  Glasgow  and  district* 
containing  754,778  persons,  the  total  saving  would  be  10,340,450 
gallons  per  twenty-four  hours. 

"  The  operations  showed,  almost  uniformly,  that  the  quantity  of 
water  consumed  increased  during  the  nine  weeks  which  elapsed  between 
two  inspections,  and  the  most  reliable  observations  gave  an  increase  of 
3.4  gallons  per  head,  on  an  average.  The  total  saving  per  head  after 
the  first  three  inspections  were  completed  was  1 7  gallons,  so  that  if  the 
consumption  continued  to  increase  at  the  rate  of  3.4  gallons  in  nine 
weeks,  the  original  rate  of  consumption  would  be  reached  in  ten 
months  and  a  half.  In  some  of  the  districts  the  increase  was  at  the 
rate  of  only  2  gallons  in  nine  weeks  ;  in  others  it  was  at  the  rate  of 
7  gallons. 

"  An  instance  of  the  gradual  increase  in  the  rate  of  consumption 
may  be  referred  to  in  sub-district  IV.  3,  when  left  without  inspection 
for  three  months  and  a  half.  Before  the  night  inspection  the  consump- 
tion per  head  per  twenty-four  hours  was  27.0  gallons  and  the  night 
rate  15.3  gallons.  Fourteen  days  after  the  inspection  had  been  made 
the  rates  were  22.2  and  10.1  gallons  ;  six  weeks  after  the  inspection  the 
rates  were  23.3  and  9.6  gallons  ;  ten  weeks  after  the  inspection  the  rates 
were  26.5  and  12.6  gallons  ;  and  fourteen  weeks  after  they  had  increased 
to  28.0  and  14.9  gallons." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  application  of  district  meters  was  not 
general  in  Glasgow,  though  the  results  obtained  by  their  partial  use  na 
doubt  secured  for  the  Chief  Engineer  the  authority  and  means  to 
enforce  a  rigid  house-to-house  inspection,  and  to  control  the  character 
of  new  fittings,  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  more  latitude  is  allowed  in 


13 

the  trial  of  new  taps  and  devices  in  Glasgow  than  in  Manchester,  Liver- 
pool, and  some  other  places.  As  may  be  supposed,  manufacturers  and 
inventors  are  constantly  submitting  new,  or  alleged  new,  devices  for  the 
approval  of  the  engineer,  claiming,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  they  are 
superior  to  anything  heretofore  in  use.  Many  are  rejected  on  sight;  others 
that  hold  out  a  prospect  of  success  the  engineer  disposes  of  by  consent- 
ing to  allow  them  to  be  used  in  a  certain  house  or  row  of  houses  if 
the  builder  requests  it.  A  record  is  kept  of  such  cases  and  their  opera- 
tion is  watched  for  a  year.  As  a  general  thing  few  articles  survive  this 
test,  even  of  those  that  are  subjected  to  it,  and  the  authorities  find  it  an 
easier  way  of  disposing  of  sanguine  inventors  than  to  absolutely  refuse 
to  try  their  wares. 

In  1875  Mr.  Gale,  the  Water  Engineer  of  Glasgow,  stated  that,  in 
that  city,  as  the  result  of  many  years'  inspection,  he  found  one  tap 
wasting  water  for  every  eight  taps  examined.  As  the  average  number 
of  taps  in  a  house  was  three,  he  held  that  every  third  house  was  wasting 
water.  Following  this  line  of  reasoning,  about  every  house  in  this  city 
is  wasting  water,  more  or  less,  during  the  twenty-four  hours,  since, 
instead  of  three  taps  per  house,  in  New  York  the  average  is  not  less 
than  twelve. 

He  very  strongly  urged  the  improvement  of  defective  fittings,  and 
after  admitting  the  advantages  of  district  meters  and  appliances  for 
indicating  where  waste  was  going  on,  he  yet  held  that  the  removal  of 
imperfect  fittings  was  the  only  possible  solution  of  this  difficult  question, 
and  "  he  did  not  anticipate  any  improvement  in  this  direction  until  the 
authorities  instituted  a  system  of  testing  and  stamping  every  fitting 
before  it  was  allowed  to  be  used,  which  had  been  so  long  successfully 
carried  out  in  Manchester."  It  will  be  remembered  this  was  stated 
prior  to  the  enforcement  of  the  rules  which  secured  the  gratifying  results 
reported  in  our  last  article.  In  referring  thus  at  length  to  Glasgow,  we 
do  so  because  our  condition  now  is  much  the  same  as  theirs  was  in 
1875,  and  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Gale  apply  with  special  force  to  us  to-day, 
especially  when  he  says :  "  In  Glasgow  the  water-fittings  were  very 
numerous,  and  as  the  great  bulk  of  the  house  property  had  been  put  up 
by  speculative  builders,  they  were,  as  a  rule,  neither  sufficiently  strong 
nor  properly  finished."  How  absolutely  true  this  statement  is,  if  applied 
to  this  city,  every  plumber  and  dealer  in  plumbers'  supplies  knows. 

The  rules  governing  the  class  of  fittings  allowed,  and  the  methods 
of  doing  the  plumbing-work,  were  printed  at  length  in  THE  SANITARY 
ENGINEER  of  May  25,  1882,  page  538  ;  *  the  leading  features  of  which 
not  in  force  in  this  city  are  the  following : 

*See 


14 

"  A  stop-cock  on  the  supply  from  street-main  to  house. 

"  Definite  rules  to  govern  the  construction  of  cisterns  with  reference 
to  the  manner  of  attaching  the  ball-cock. 

"  The  location  of  cisterns,  the  location  of  the  overflow-pipe  in  a 
cistern  with  reference  to  the  water-line  when  ball-cock  is  closed,  also 
the  terminus  of  the  overflow-pipe. 

"  No  fitting  or  appliance  is  allowed  to  be  used  that  does  not  bear 
the  maker's  name  and  conform  to  a  standard  set  by  the  chief  engineer, 
and  is  not  able  to  stand  the  tests  to  which  it  is  subjected  by  the  testing 
officers. 

"  Ground  key  bibbs,  or  taps,  are  not  allowed  on  pipes  direct  from 
the  main. 

"  No  water-closet  can  be  supplied  direct  from  the  main,  nor  from  a 
tap  of  any  kind.  Every  water-closet  must  be  supplied  from  a  special 
cistern  so  constructed  as  not  to  be  capable  of  discharging  more  than  a 
given  amount  of  water  at  each  flush,  and  so  that  it  cannot  be  made  to 
flow  continuously,  either  by  intention  or  neglect." 

The  clause  of  the  act  under  which  the  Glasgow  rules  are  enforced 
is  as  follows : 

"SECTION  17.  All  the  apparatus  used  or  to  be  used  for  conveying 
water  to  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants  and  manufactories,  or  other 
premises  supplied  or  to  be  supplied  with  water  under  the  provisions  of 
the  recited  act,  shall  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  engineer  to  the 
commissioners  ;  and  in  case  of  dispute  between  the  parties  providing 
such  apparatus  and  such  engineer,  such  dispute  shall  be  determined  by 
the  Water  Committee  of  the  Commissioners,  whose  decision  shall  be 
final." 


CHAPTER    III. 


MANCHESTER. 

HISTORY     OF    WASTE-PREVENTION     MEASURES METHODS     OF    HOUSE-TO- 
HOUSE     INSPECTION DUTIES     OF     INSPECTORS — METHODS 

OF    TESTING    AND    STAMPING    FITTINGS. 

IN  1851,  Manchester,  Eng.,  received  for  the  first  time  an  abundant 
supply  of  water  from  its  new  water-works,  and  has  since  been  able  to 
maintain  a  constant  service.  The  managers,  realizing  the  importance 
of  controlling  the  character  of  the  plumbing- work  and  fittings,  attempted, 
like  the  authorities  of  Norwich,  to  stop  the  waste,  acting  under  the 
authority  conferred  by  the  water-works  clauses  act  of  1847,  DUt  it  was 
found  inadequate  and  they  were  unsuccessful.  In  1858,  1860,  and  1867, 
however,  the  corporation  secured  additional  authority  from  Parliament, 
and  has  since  effectually  controlled  these  matters.  Manchester  is  there- 
fore to-day  a  city  where  the  testing  of  fittings  and  constant  and  system- 
atic inspection  of  plumbing  is  solely  relied  on  to  restrict  the  waste  of 
water. 

We  believe  an  average  pressure  of  upward  of  forty  pounds  to  the 
inch  is  maintained,  and  yet  under  the  admirable  management  there  pre- 
vailing the  amount  of  water  delivered  for  all  purposes  is  only  about 
twenty  imperial  gallons  daily  per  capita  (about  twenty-four  U.  S. 
gallons).  Thirteen  of  this  amount  is  used  for  domestic  purposes  and 
seven  for  manufacturing,  street-watering,  and  fires.  The  authorities 
also  claim  that  they  maintain  a  sufficient  pressure  to  be  able  to  put 
out  fires  in  the  highest  buildings  without  the  aid  of  fire-engines.  It 
should  be  stated,  however,  that  water-closets  are  not  universal  in 
Manchester,  the  tub  system  for  the  removal  of  excreta  being  relied  on 
by  a  portion  of  the  population.  They  use  meters  in  all  buildings 
except  dwellings,  and  exempt  them  on  sanitary  grounds ;  where 
meters  are  used  an  ample  supply  for  flushing  water-closets  is  insisted 
on.  The  meters  used  are  all  tested,  and  it  is  claimed  that  the  variation 
does  not  exceed  two  per  cent. 


i6 

Mr.  T.  H.  G.  Berry,  the  superintendent,  to  whom  we  are  indebted 
for  much  information,  has  stated  that  he  preferred  house-to-house 
inspection,  because  it  enabled  the  authorities  to  keep  informed  as  to  the 
use  to  which  water,  not  otherwise  reported,  was  put,  and  the  increased 
revenue  from  these  discoveries  amounted  to  about  £1,200  a  year, 
which,  with  the  fees  received  for  stamping  fittings,  practically  paid  the 
cost  of  the  entire  inspecting  and  testing  staff. 

Plumbers  are  supposed  to  do  the  work  in  a  building  in  accordance 
with  the  prescribed  rules.  When  a  building  is  fitted  up,  and  it  is  desired 
to  have  the  water  turned  on,  the  plumber  sends  in  a  form  filled  out 
describing  the  character  and  number  of  fittings  used.  An  inspector  is 
then  sent  to  see  if  they  are  all  stamped  and  the  work  done  in  accord- 
ance with  the  regulations  ;  if  so,  he  makes  a  report  to  that  effect.  If 
not  satisfactory  the  inspector  writes  to  the  plumber  and  tells  him  what 
is  needed  to  secure  his  approval  of  the  work,  and  the  matter  rests  in  the 
inspector's  hands  until  his  demands  are  complied  with.  The  good  faith 
of  this  inspector  is  tested  by  a  chief  or  second  inspector,  who  has  the 
first  inspector's  reports  to  verify. 

The  second  inspector  is  in  a  different  office  from  the  first.  He  takes 
the  reports  for  verification  from  the  books  in  that  office.  If  the  first 
inspector  is  satisfied  that  the  fittings  and  work  in  a  building  are  all  right, 
he  makes  an  agreement  with  the  owner  as  to  the  water-rate  to  be  paid, 
it  being  his  business  to  find  the  owner  and  get  the  agreement  signed  if 
the  building  is  to  be  then  occupied.  Quarterly  rentals  are  charged  to 
the  tenant  and  weekly  rentals  to  the  landlord.  It  will  be  obvious  that, 
from  the  responsibility  placed  on  these  inspectors,  they  must  be  men  of 
integrity  and  intelligence — a  combination,  we  regret  to  say,  not  always 
found  in  men  too  often  selected  for  such  positions  in  this  city. 

There  are  eight  so-called  first  or  plumbing  inspectors,  who  make 
these  agreements  ;  and  there  are  two  second  or  supervising  inspectors, 
who  only  visit  the  building  after  the  water  is  turned  on,  to  see  if  any 
change  has  been  made,  if  waste  exists,  and  if  the  proper  rental  is  being 
paid.  If  an  extra  water-closet  is  put  up  or  any  change  made,  and  not 
reported  to  the  water-office,  the  offending  plumber  is  brought  before 
the  Water  Committee,  and  either  fined  or  his  name  stricken  off  the  list. 

Of  the  waste-preventing  staff  for  house-to-house  inspection  there 
is  one  regular  member,  and  the  others  are  used  as  time  from  new  work 
permits. 

Having  explained  the  details  of  the  house-to-house  inspection  of 
water  fittings  as  practiced  in  Manchester,  we  will  now  describe  the 
methods  adopted  in  the  examination,  testing,  and  stamping  of  fittings. 


As  before  stated,  meters  are  used  in  all  buildings  except  dwellings. 
The  following  is  the  plan  adopted  in  the  testing  of  the  meters  : 

There  are  two  tanks,  one  holding  no  gallons  and  the  other  180 
gallons.  On  the  front  of  the  tank  is  a  glass  tube  like  a  thermometer- 
glass  ;  the  water-line  indicates  on  this  tube  the  exact  quantity  in  the 
tank.  The  meter  is  first  tried  by  letting  a  hundred  gallons  run  through 
as  quickly  as  possible.  The  other  test  is  to  allow  it  to  pass  through  in 
a  period  of  ten  hours.  As  the  quantity  passed  by  the  meter  in  either 
case  is  known,  the  reliability  of  its  record  can  be  ascertained. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  receipts  from  fees  for  stamping  fittings, 
together  with  the  additional  rates  collected  for  uses  to  which  water  is 
put,  discovered  only  by  the  house-to-house  inspection,  pay  the  entire 
cost  of  maintaining  the  waste  preventing  staff.  The  following  scale  of 
charges  may,  therefore,  be  of  interest :  For  bibbs  and  stop-cocks,  two- 
pence each  ;  ball-cocks,  threepence ;  cisterns,  sixpence  ;  water-closets, 
sixpence. 

Three  men  do  all  the  testing  in  Manchester,  and  they  approve  and 
stamp  on  an  average  about  fifty  thousand  fittings  in  a  year,  which  includes 
bibbs,  stops,  cisterns,  water-closets,  stop-cock  valves,  and  any  fittings 
used  in  the  distribution  of  water.  A  portion  of  these  stamped  fittings 
are  used  in  other  towns  in  England,  the  practice  being  that  smaller 
places  that  cannot  afford  to  maintain  a  testing  office  require  that  fittings 
used  in  connection  with  their  water-supply  shall  bear  the  Manchester, 
Liverpool,  or  Glasgow  stamp,  or  that  of  any  other  city  whose  stamp  is 
a  guarantee  that  the  article  is  reliable.  By  this  means  it  will  be  seen 
that  other  places  contribute  something  toward  the  support  of  the  testing 
office. 

The  rejection  of  fittings  at  the  present  time,  after,  of  course,  a 
number  of  years'  inspection,  is  about  as  follows  :  the  four  leading  makers, 
about  five  per  cent.,  the  others  about  twelve  per  cent.  Most  of  the  re- 
jections are  due  to  imperfect  seatings,  it  being  understood  that  com- 
pression or  screw-down  cocks  are  required  ;  sand-holes,  also,  are  a  very 
considerable  cause  of  rejection.  The  former  defect  is  revealed  by 
taking  the  tap  apart ;  the  latter  by  the  pressure  test,  which  is  300  pounds 
to  the  inch. 

Ball-cocks  have  the  size  of  the  ball  and  length  of  the  lever  pre- 
scribed. They  are  tested  by  turning  them  upside  down  and  placing  a 
half-pound  weight  on  the  ball,  and  then  subjected  to  a  hydraulic  pres- 
sure of  150  pounds  to  the  inch,  which  is  regarded  as  equivalent  to  three 
hundred  pounds  when  the  ball  is  floating.  The  lever  is  stamped  at 
both  ends  to  prevent  a  plumber  from  shortening  it.  Waste-preventing 


i8 

cisterns  are  carefully  examined,  and  care  is  taken  to  see  that  the  valves 
are  so  hung  that  they  cannot  both  be  suspended  or  off  their  seats  at  the 
same  time. 

The  fittings  are  usually  sent  by  the  dealers  in  quantities  to  the 
testing  office,  as  the  plumbers  will  not  buy  them  unless  stamped,  except 
in  the  case  of  an  odd  fitting  required  for  special  work,  which  the 
plumber,  to  save  time,  sends  direct. 

Taps  are  first  weighed  singly.  If  of  requisite  weight,  they  are  then 
taken  to  pieces,  and  a  gauge  is  used  to  ascertain  that  the  seat  allows  a 
good  bearing  for  the  washer.  It  is  also  examined  to  see  that  the  thread 
is  sufficiently  long  so  that  the  stem  will  fit  well  in  the  cap  and  not 
wobble.  Any  deficiency  in  either  of  these  particulars  secures  the  re- 
jection of  the  tap.  The  stamping  of  the  maker's  name  on  the  tap  is 
not  insisted  on,  and  with  well-recognized  makers  every  tap  is  not  taken 
apart. 

Doubtless  the  attempt  to  enforce  similar  rules  in  this  city  would 
provoke  strong  remonstrances  from  dealers  and  plumbers,  who  might 
at  times  feel  annoyed  at  the  restrictions.  The  former,  especially,  would 
have  to  find  other  markets  for  inferior  goods  and  undoubtedly  would 
make  the  strongest  opposition.  In  this  connection,  therefore,  it  may  be 
well  to  recall  the  statement  of  a  leading  plumber  in  Manchester,  who, 
when  asked  his  opinion  of  the  rules  and  their  working,  replied  that 
through  oversight  of  his  workman,  and  failure  to  report  changes  made, 
he  had  several  times  been  fined  ;  that  at  first  he  had  felt  much  annoyed 
at  being  obliged  to  wait  to  get  special  fittings  stamped,  yet,  after  his 
years  of  experience,  he  was  bound  to  admit  that  his  punishment  had 
been  deserved,  was  just  and  proper,  and  that  were  he  a  water-works 
engineer,  intrusted  with  the  duty  of  serving  the  public  by  preventing 
the  waste  of  their  water,  he  should  do  just  as  the  authorities  of  Man- 
chester did. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


LIVERPOOL. 

CHANGE     FROM     INTERMITTENT     TO     CONSTANT     SUPPLY METHOD    OF 

ASCERTAINING    LOCALITY    OF  WASTE    BY   USE    OF    DISTRICT 
METERS METHOD    OF     HOUSE     INSPECTION. 

WE  have  seen  that  in  Manchester  the  testing  of  fittings  and  sys- 
tematic house-to-house  inspection  is  relied  on  to  prevent  the  waste  of 
water.  Liverpool,  however,  is  a  city  where  remarkable  results  have  been 
obtained  by  the  use  of  district  meters  in  addition  to  the  measures  em- 
ployed in  Manchester.  A  full  description  of  the  district  meter  system 
as  applied  and  carried  out  in  Liverpool  we  gave  in  a  series  of  letters  on 
pages  494,  552,  and  586  of  Vol.  IV.* 

In  the  present  article,  therefore,  we  shall  simply  recall  the  leading 
facts. 

Prior  to  1873  Liverpool  had  an  intermittent  water-supply,  the  daily 
consumption  being  about  twenty-nine  imperial  gallons  per  capita  (nearly 
35  U.  S.  gallons).  When  constant  service  was  given  the  amount  delivered 
ran  up  to  thirty-eight  gallons.  The  then  limited  amount  of  water  acces- 
sible demanded  either  that  constant  service  should  be  abandoned  and 
the  miserable  intermittent  supply  reverted  to,  or  that  the  waste  should 
be  stopped.  In  this  emergency  Mr.  G.  F.  Deacon,  the  Chief  Engineer,, 
devised  a  meter  to  be  placed  on  the  street-mains  in  the  various  districts 
of  the  city,  the  main  purpose  being  to  indicate  whether  waste  was 
occurring  or  not,  and  if  so,  whether  in  buildings  or  in  the  mains. 

It  will  be  understood,  then,  that  the  district  meters  were  relied  on 
to  indicate  where  waste  was  occurring,  and  only  such  places  were  exam- 
ined ;  in  other  words,  the  citizens  of  Liverpool  are  not  subjected  to 
house-to-house  inspection,  a  building  not  being  visited  unless  the  inspec- 
tors, by  the  outside  means  referred  to,  ascertain  that  waste  is  going  on 
within. 

Plumbing-work,  however,  has  to  be  done  in  accordance  with  pre- 
scribed rules,  and  the  standards  adopted  for  the  various  kinds  of  plumb- 

*  See  abstract  in  Appendix. 


2O 

ing  fittings,  together  with  the  system  of  examination  and  testing,  is  not 
surpassed  anywhere. 

This  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  situation  in  Liverpool,  but  those  of 
our  readers  interested  will  find  a  very  full  description  by  the  writer 
in  the  fourth  volume  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER.  The  following 
extract,  however,  gives  an  idea  of  the  method  of  utilizing  the  district 
meters  : 

"  The  Liverpool  plan  divides  the  city  into  districts.  In  each  dis- 
trict a  water-meter  is  placed  in  connection  with  the  main.  The  meter 
is  put  under  the  sidewalk,  or  in  the  street,  as  near  the  main  as  possible 
and  its  connection  with  the  main  and  the  arrangement  of  the  pipes 
supplying  the  district  are  such  that  all  the  water  used  in  the  district 
must  pass  through  the  meter. 

"  By  examining  the  meters  for  several  successive  days  the  districts 
in  which  the  greatest  waste  occurs  are  ascertained,  and  the  inspectors 
are  able  to  concentrate  their  energies  on  these.  The  presence  of  waste 
is  indicated  by  the  peculiar  character  of  the  lines  on  the  diagrams  taken 
from  the  drums  of  the  meters.  When  waste  alone  is  taking  place,  as 
from  2  A.  M.  to  5  A.  M.,  when,  of  course,  ordinary  consumption  is  not 
taking  place,  the  flow  of  water  is  uniform,  and  this  condition  is 
indicated  on  the  diagrams  by  a  comparatively  regular  horizontal  line, 
whereas,  when  water  is  being  drawn  off  for  use,  the  rate  of  flow 
must  evidently  be  variable,  and  this  is  indicated  by  irregular  vertical 
lines. 

"  There  are  four  gangs  of  inspectors,  each  consisting  of  one  chief 
inspector  and  one  or  two  assistants.  From  diagrams  brought  to  the 
office  each  morning  by  the  meter  man  whose  duty  it  is  to  bring  them  in. 
four  of  the  worst  districts  are  selected,  and  a  gang  appointed  for  each, 
As  there  are  212  districts  in  Liverpool,  if  the  inspections  were  regular 
it  would  require  about  fifty  days  to  get  around.  Diagrams  are,  how- 
ever, brought  in  each  morning  from  only  forty  or  fifty  districts,  and 
from  these  the  selection  is  made.  The  average  population  of  a  district 
is  about  3,500,  but  smaller  districts  are  preferable. 

"  The  inspection  of  the  districts  selected  is  made  at  night,  and  the 
details  of  the  inspection  are  as  follows  :  After  n  P.  M.  a  night  inspector 
visits  the  most  wasteful  districts.  He  has  no  access  to  the  meter,  which 
is  locked.  At  each  outside  stop-cock,  one  of  which  is  placed  under  the 
footway  at  each  house  or  block  of  premises,  he  uses  a  wooden  rod  or 
his  stop-cock  bar  as  a  stethescope.  Probably  at  one  out  of  every  eight 
or  ten  stop-cocks  he  hears  the  sound  of  running  water.  In  each  such 
case  he  closes  the  stop-cock  and  enters  in  his  note-book  the  name  of 


21 

the  street,  the  number  of  the  premises,  and  the  time,  and  makes  a 
chalk-mark  on  the  footway  across  the  stop-cock.  Having  completed  the 
district,  he  retraces  his  steps  and  reopens  the  stop-cocks  marked  with 
chalk.  He  then  returns  to  the  night  office,  writes  out  his  notes  in 
copying-ink  on  the  left-hand  sheet  of  a  book,  and  between  6  and  8  A.  M. 
his  work  for  the  twenty-four  hours  is  finished.  At  9  on  the  same  morn- 
ing a  press  copy  is  taken  from  the  night  inspector's  report. 

"  The  diagrams  brought  in  by  the  meter  man  in  the  morning  indi- 
cate to  within  a  few  minutes  the  time  the  inspectors  began  and  finished 
the  work  during  the  night,  the  time  of  closing  each  stop-cock,  and  the 
quantity  and  kind  of  the  gross  and  detail  waste  indicated  on  the  night 
inspector's  report.  The  night  inspection  is  followed  by  the  day  inspec- 
tion, for  which  there  are  also  four  gangs,  who  take  with  them  tools  to 
do  slight  repairs  without  cost  to  the  tenants.  Burst  mains,  defective 
valves,  hydrants,  stand-pipes,  etc.,  are  repaired  by  gangs  of  pipelayers. 
In  the  case  of  burst  or  damaged  pipes  or  fittings  in  houses  too  serious  to 
be  repaired  by  the  day  inspectors,  notices  are  issued  to  repair  them  in  a 
given  time  at  the  cost  of  the  tenant  or  landlord,  subject  to  the  regula- 
tions of  the  water  authorities.  The  day  inspector's  report  is  made  out 
on  the  same  book  as  the  night  inspector's. 

"  To  insure  that  these  notices  are  observed  two  re-examiners  are 
intrusted  with  the  duty  of  going  through  the  districts  which  have  been 
inspected,  and  ascertaining  whether  the  repairs  have  been  properly 
made.  They  also  examine  any  new  or  altered  fittings.  Some  districts 
may  run  for  a  year  without  inspection,  while  in  others  an  inspection 
may  be  required  every  month,  but  no  district  is  allowed  to  go  more 
than  a  month  or  six  weeks  without  the  taking  of  a  meter  diagram." 

An  important  feature  in  the  Liverpool  system  is  the  inspection  of 
fittings.  The  permanent  testing  office  force  consists  of  seven  men — one 
superintendent,  four  assistants,  and  two  laborers.  The  charges  for  test- 
ing are  :  for  bibbs  or  taps,  twopence  each  ;  ball-cocks,  threepence  ;  water- 
closet  cisterns,  sixpence.  Every  tap  is  taken  apart,  no  matter  who 
makes  it,  its  seat  is  examined,  also  the  character  of  the  washer,  to  see 
that  a  good  bearing  is  obtained,  also  the  threads  on  the  caps  and 
spindles — indeed,  in  all  respects  it  is  required  to  conform  to  the  sample 
tap  that  the  manufacturer  had  deposited  in  the  office  as  his  standard, 
which  tap  had  originally  received  the  approval  of  the  engineer.  When 
new  fittings  are  submitted  for  approval  which  deviate  from  the  recog- 
nized articles,  the  custom  is  to  have  them  put  in  use  somewhere  and 
tried  for  a  year,  the  authorities  taking  the  ground  that  experiments  to 
demonstrate  the  value  and  utility  of  an  article  should  be  made  without 


22 


risk  to  them  or  to  the  house-owner,  and  though  sometimes  a  meritorious 
thing  is  held  back  a  year,  yet  by  this  plan  a  number  of  unreliable  articles 
are  excluded  from  use,  and  wrangles  with  manufacturers  and  inventors 
are  avoided.  In  1880  the  number  of  fittings  that  "  passed  through  the 
testing  and  stamping  department  was  83,613,  of  which  the  testing  offi- 
cers stamped  71,969,  the  remaining  11,644  being  rejected  in  conse- 
quence of  defects  revealed  by  the  tests  applied." 

Each  approved  fitting  has  two  stamps,  one  that  is  readily  visible  and 
one  a  private  mark.  The  latter  was  made  necessary  because  dealers 
were  caught  counterfeiting  the  stamp.  In  the  testing  of  ball-cocks, 
they  are  required  to  close  against  a  pressure  of  130  pounds  to  the  inch, 
with  the  ball  not  over  five-eighths  submerged  ;  they  are  also  placed 
upside  down,  held  shut,  and  subjected  to  300  pounds  pressure,  to  ascer- 
tain if  the  casting  is  perfect.  To  save  the  time  of  immersing  each  ball, 
the  resistance  in  weight  is  estimated  and  the  submerging  test  is  dis- 
pensed with. 

They  have  a  scale  of  weight  of  the  water  displaced  by  the  ball 
when  immersed  five- eighths  in  depth,  a  copy  of  which  we  were  permit- 
ted to  take  by  Mr.  Davis,  the  superintendent,  which  is  as  follows  : 


Diameter  of  Ball. 

Weight  of  Displaced  Water. 

4^  inches. 

18.96  ounces. 

5 

25.89 

5j^ 

34-79 

5^ 

39-40 

6 

44.76 

7 

71.08 

7/8 

83.13 

8X 

115.78 

To  ascertain  the  necessary  weight  to  put  on  the  ball  when  it  is 
turned  upside  down  to  resist  the  pressure  of  130  pounds,  they  subtract 
twice  the  ascertained  weight  of  the  lever  and  ball  from  the  figures  in 
ounces  given  on  the  scale. 

Considerable  pains  are  taken  in  the  examination  of  water-closet 
cisterns,  and  in  this  respect  the  standard  required  in  Liverpool  is  higher 
than  anywhere  else  we  know  of.  A  specification  was  prepared,  giving 
the  most  minute  details  for  the  information  of  manufacturers,  and  this 
must  be  strictly  conformed  to,  it  being  held,  and  very  properly,  too,  that 
if  not  accurately  made,  these  appliances  are  waste-preventers  in  name 
only,  and  on  this  account  we  have  taken  the  ground  that  unless  the 


23 

waste-preventing  cisterns  contemplated  to  come  within  the  minimum 
tax  fixed  by  the  Department  of  Public  Works  are  carefully  examined 
and  tested,  they  will  fail  to  secure  the  results  aimed  at ;  indeed,  for  that 
matter,  without  careful  inspection  and  good  management  the  whole 
movement,  which  is  susceptible  of  doing  a  great  good,  will  prove  disap- 
pointing.* 

The  various  patent  so-called  waste-preventing  valves  are  not  al- 
lowed. Prior  to  1873  single  cisterns  were  used,  with  one  valve,  and  so 
arranged  that  the  ball-cock  was  held  up  when  the  valve  was  lifted. 
These  were  so  poorly  made  that  they  proved  unreliable,  and  they  were 
first  opposed  because  they  were  provided  with  a  ground-key  ball-cock, 
it  not  being  considered  practicable  to  adjust  levers  with  a  ball-cock  that 
came  to  a  dead  stop,  and  as  the  ground-key  ball-cocks  were  constantly 
leaking,  this  fact  influenced  the  prohibition  of  the  single  cistern. 

In  each  waste-preventing  or  double-valve  cistern  there  must  be 
three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  play  after  the  valve  is  closed  before  it  can 
be  approved,  and  this  is  carefully  looked  after  by  the  testing  officer. 
The  rules  prescribe  that  the  measuring  compartment  shall  hold  two  gal- 
lons, which  is  ample  for  the  hopper  forms  of  water-closets,  but  where 
special  kinds  of  water-closets  are  used  that  need  a  little  more,  special 
tanks  are  sanctioned  so  long  as  they  are  so  constructed  that  there  is  a 
limit  to  the  amount  that  can  be  drawn  at  one  lifting  of  the  valve.  The 
main  point  sought  after  is  to  prevent  a  constant  running  of  the  water 
should  any  one  fasten  the  handle  up,  a  practice  often  resorted  to  by 
persons  who  have  defective  plumbing,  and  imagine  that  a  trickling  of 
water  will  "keep  down  the  sewer-gas." 

It  should  be  remembered  that  in  Liverpool,  as  elsewhere,  much 
opposition  at  first  prevailed,  but  the  Water  Committee,  which  had  the 
respect  and  esteem  of  the  community,  loyally  stood  by  their  engineers 
and  gave  the  support  that  a  public  official  everywhere  needs  when  re- 
quired to  enforce  what  are  at  the  moment  unpopular  measures,  and  no- 
where is  that  support  more  needed  than  in  a  city  like  New  York. 

It  is  but  justice  to  state  that  much  of  the  credit  of  the  success 
achieved  in  Liverpool  was  due  to  a  Mr.  Wilson,  since  deceased,  who  was 
indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  facilitate  the  methods  of  inspection,  and 
to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  details  essential  to  the  proper  enforcement 
of  the  necessary  measures. 

As  in  the  other  cities  we  have  described,  no  fittings,  or  class  of  fit- 
tings, are  selected  that  any  firm  has  a  monopoly  of  making — though  it 
often  happens  that  patents  are  procured  on  some  detail,  it  is  never  on 

*  See  proposed  water-closet  tax,  New  York  Department  Public  Works,  Appendix. 


24 

any  essential  feature  required  by  the  authorities — consequently  the  widest 
latitude  is  given  to  the  purchaser,  he  being  simply  required  to  use  arti- 
cles that  are  well  made,  water-tight,  and  capable  of  fulfilling  the  re- 
quirements of  such  devices.  Whenever,  therefore,  the  authorities  in 
this  country  attempt  to  prescribe  the  character  of  fittings,  they  will  find 
the  domain  covered  by  no  patents  sufficiently  wide  to  secure  what  the 
public  need,  and  what  any  manufacturer  can  make  if  he  chooses  to,  at 
least  so  far  as  plumbing  fittings  are  concerned. 

In  1881  we  learned  from  Mr.  Parry,  the  efficient  engineer  then  in 
charge  of  the  distribution  of  water,  that  122,673  houses  were  supplied  with 
water  by  the  corporation  ;  the  population  was  725,000,  being  an  average 
of  5.91  persons  to  each  house.  The  average  rate  of  consumption  for  all 
purposes  was  23  imperial  gallons  per  head  daily,  which  included  five 
gallons  per  head  for  trade  purposes  measured  by  meter,  about  three 
gallons  for  sanitary  purposes  and  miscellaneous  trade  uses,  charged  for 
by  assessment,  leaving  about  fifteen  gallons  per  head  daily  for  domestic 
purposes,  stores,  hotels,  public  buildings,  and  all  waste.  Water-closets 
are  general  in  Liverpool,  and  each  one  is  required  to  be  so  fitted  that  it 
can  be  flushed  with  two  gallons  in  a  few  seconds  ;  private  baths  are 
common,  and  of  late  years  it  has  been  the  practice  to  put  them  in  all 
new  houses  renting  for  more  than  $90  per  year.  There  is  a  considera- 
ble demand  for  shipping,  and  public  fountains  are  numerous.  In  order 
to  sum  up  the  results  secured  by  the  adoption  of  efficient  measures  to 
restrict  waste  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  from  Mr.  Thomas  Hawks- 
ley's  address  as  President  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Social  Science,  delivered  at  Liverpool,  in  October,  1876  : 

"  Under  the  able  management  of  Mr.  Deacon  (Borough  Engineer) 
the  supply  has  been  changed  with  great  advantage  from  a  restricted  in- 
termittent to  an  unrestricted  constant  system,  and  as  a  consequence 
of  the  admirable  method  he  has  devised  and  adopted  for  the  discovery, 
suppression,  and  prevention  of  waste,  the  municipality  has  emerged,  as 
respects  the  quantity  of  water  at  its  disposal,  from  a  state  of  actual 
poverty — poverty  in  the  midst  of  plenty — to  a  condition  of  redundant 
wealth.  It  has  enough  and  to  spare." 

"  To  provide  a  town  with  water  of  a  suitable  quality  is  now  a  mat- 
ter of  great  difficulty  and  much  expense.  Competent  and  available 
sources  are  becoming  fewer  and  fewer,  and  must  in  general  be  sought 
at  distances  always  becoming  more  remote.  Moreover,  the  value  of 
land,  labor,  and  materials  is  almost  day  by  day  advancing,  and  so  rapidly 
and  steadily,  that  the  present  cost  of  a  reservoir  is,  as  I  know  by  re- 
peated experiences,  double  what  it  was  less  than  thirty  years  ago." 

In  view  of  these  facts  so  forcibly  stated,  is  it  not  stupid  to  clamor 
that  "  water  should  be  free  as  air,"  and  should  it  not  be  considered  a 
crime  to  waste  and  deprive  others  of  what  they  are  entitled  to  ? 


CHAPTER   V. 


PROVIDENCE  AND  CINCINNATI. 

REVIEW    OF    MEASURES    TO    PREVENT    WATER    WASTE     IN     THE     UNITED 
STATES   PRIOR    TO     1882 — PROVIDENCE,    R.    I.,    RESULTS   FOL- 
LOWING THE  GENERAL    USE  OF  METERS CINCIN- 
NATI, METHODS  OF  HOUSE  INSPECTION 
WITH  THE  AID  OF  WATER- 
PHONE RESULTS 

OBTAINED. 

HAVING  in  preceding  chapters  pointed  out  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  the  way  of  preventing  waste  of  water  by  the  adoption  and 
enforcement  of  efficient  measures  in  Great  Britain,  we  will  now  briefly 
review  the  situation  in  this  country.  In  looking  over  the  field,  we  are 
bound  to  admit  that,  with  the  exception  of  two  cities,  hardly  a  begin- 
ning has  been  made,  though  considerable  has  been  said  on  the  subject 
in  print,  and  a  scarcity  of  supply  has  forced  the  consideration  of  the 
matter  on  engineers. 

Providence  shows  the  best  record  of  any  city  in  this  country  so  far 
as  the  amount  of  water  consumed  goes  ;  though  it  is  true  the  introduc- 
tion of  public  water  is  of  comparatively  recent  date  (1870),  and  from  the 
commencement  meters  have  been  in  general  use.  The  amount  used  in 
1883  was  40  gallons  per  head,  or  379  gallons  per  tap  daily,  while  in 
Milwaukee,  a  city  of  about  ten  thousand  more  population,  with  no  special 
regulations  to  restrict  waste,  the  consumption  amounted  to  128  gallons 
per  head,  or  1,476  gallons  per  tap  daily,  Milwaukee  having  350  meters, 
while  Providence  had  5,721.*  Such  a  showing  indicates  what  it  is  pos- 
sible to  secure  by  good  management. 

The  table  on  page  26,  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Samuel  A. 
Gray,  City  Engineer,  was  prepared  in  response  to  certain  inquiries  made 
by  us,  and  will  be  found  of  special  interest.  It  certainly  makes  a  good 
showing  for  the  meter  system. 

We  believe  that  the  scale  of  water-rates  is  so  arranged  that  most 
consumers  elect  to  have  meters.  They  find  that  with  care  their  tax  is 

*From  "Statistical  Tables  of  American  Water- Works  ",  by  J.  J.  R.  Croes,  C.  E. 


26 


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27 

less  than  if  they  pay  for  each  fitting  in  a  building  in  accordance  with  the 
published  schedule. 

Cincinnati  is  another  place  that  has  accomplished  something  in 
reducing  the  amount  of  waste,  and  that  seems  to  be  mainly  due  to  the 
efforts  of  the  authorities,  aided  by  the  use  of  the  Bell  waterphone,  to 
discover  where  abuses  existed  and  waste  was  occurring. 

During  the  recent  flood  in  that  city,  it  will  be  remembered,  the 
pumping-engines  were  stopped  by  the  high  water,  and  a  very  possible 
calamity  averted  as  the  direct  results  of  their  waste-prevention  efforts. 
It  seems  that  when  the  pumps  stopped  there  were  about  one  hundred 
million  gallons  in  the  reservoir,  and  when  pumping  was  resumed  there 
were  forty  millions  left,  and  the  engines  were  stopped  five  days. 
Had  nothing  been  done  to  check  waste,  it  will  be  seen  that  even  this 
very  slender  reserve  could  not  have  been  had,  for  taking  the  ordinary 
increase  on  the  basis  of  former  years'  consumption,  the  original  one 
hundred  millions  would  have  been  exhausted  before  the  engines  were 
started.  After  this  experience,  we  imagine  the  people  of  Cincinnati  will 
more  thoroughly  appreciate  the  value  of  vigorous  waste-prevention 
measures. 

In  this  connection  the  following  data  and  description  of  the  methods 
employed  may  be  of  interest. 

They  began  the  waste  inspection  with  the  aid  of  waterphones  the 
last  of  November,  1881,  although  it  was  not  systematically  done  until 
July,  1882.  The  population  at  that  time  was  estimated  at  264,000  ;  it 
is  now  estimated  at  280,000. 

The  daily  consumption  for  November,  1881,  was  19,706,903 
gallons,  that  being  the  average  for  the  month.  The  daily  average  for 
January,  1883,  was  16,264,000  gallons. 

There  are  employed  six  men  specially  on  waste  inspection  and 
three  others  at  irregular  intervals.  The  annual  cost  is  $5, 500. 

The  method  of  operation  is  as  follows : 

The  inspector,  with  assistant,  is  furnished  a  record  book,  contain- 
ing the  number  of  house,  service-stop  and  location  of  same,  and  blank 
columns  for  record  of  inspection,  a  hydrant-key,  lantern,  and  water- 
phone.  He  begins  work  at  n  o'clock  each  night  and  stops  at  4:30  A.  M. 
He  reports  at  office  at  8  o'clock  the  results  of  night  inspection,  and 
then  views,  or  rather  inspects,  the  various  premises  where  running  water 
was  detected  the  previous  night.  His  record  of  the  night  work  shows 
him  the  character  of  the  flow — viz.  : 

First — Whether  it  is  a  large  flow  or  abuse,  or  a  small  one  or 
leak. 


28 


Second — Whether  it  is  in  street  or  outside  of  stop,  or  inside  of 
premises. 

He  first  examines  for  abuses,  then  visible  leaks,  after  which  he  tests 
for  underground  leaks,  and  then  makes  a  record  accordingly,  opposite 
the  premises.  If  there  is  an  abuse  he  leaves  a  notice  to  that  effect ;  if 
a  leak  he  gives  a  leak  notice. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  officials  for  the  following  data,  which  shows 
the  comparative  consumption  of  water  (daily  average)  since  1879  : 


JANUARY. 

FEBRUARY. 

1870 

Gallons. 

1C  4.0Q  6^8 

Gallons. 
TC  To8  *T\t. 

1880  .  . 

It  e6o  532 

je  41:2  4O2 

1881  

18,406  655 

ID  515  450 

1882  

17,287,470 

17  751  8^5 

1883 

16  264  ooo 

jc  32O  687 

The  authorities  do  not  presume  to  regulate,  inspect,  or  interfere 
with  the  plumbing  inside  of  houses,  further  than  to  require  defective 
fittings  repaired  or  replaced.  Plumbers  are  licensed  and  required  to 
use  the  regulation  service-pipes,  sidewalk  stop  and  box ;  otherwise  no 
discrimination  is  made,  except  as  to  hopper-closets,  which  are  charged 
double  the  usual  rates. 

If  a  fitting  is  found  a  second  time  out  of  order,  or,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  inspector,  it  cannot  be  repaired,  it  is  condemned. 

The  following  was  the  consumption  of  water  for  1882  : 


1881. 

1882. 

Total  pumpage  

Gallons. 
8,623,788,320 

Gallons. 
7,232,134,700 

Deduct  injection-water  for  low-pressure  engines. 
Deduct  differences  in  coils  of  reservoir 

190,994,120 
ae  ,140,000 

99,215,440 
6,35O,OOO 

Total  actual  consumption  of  water  

8.3Q7,6«?4,2OO 

7,126,569,260 

29 


DAILY  AVERAGES. 


1881. 

1882. 

January                                                   

Gallons. 
18,406,655 

Gallons. 
17,287,479 

J    ,       j 
February                                          

19,515,450 

17,551,835 

March                                          

18,892,087 

17,493,951 

April                               

19,283,414 

19,801,381 

May.                                          

23,534,065 

19,804,432 

i   y  

Tune                                                       

23,484,225 

20,685,542 

Tulv 

28,507,603 

21,255,538 

August          

31,665,708 

22,  246,'  5  13 

September  

28,871,689 

22,004,314 

October                                   

25,802,557 

21,374,545 

November                

19,706,973 

18,005,442 

December           

18,056,895 

16,809,083 

23,007,272 

19,524,848 

CONSUMPTION  PER  CAPITA. 


1879. 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

For  general  surveyed  rents  

26.5 

27.0 

27   7 

28  o 

For  metered  rents.           ... 

c    o 

6  7 

6  o 

8  * 

For  hydraulic-elevator  rents  

•2   o 

4.Q 

A     O 

50 

For  street-sprinkling  rents 

O   7 

o  8 

o  6 

For  free  water   fire  purposes  etc. 

2   O 

2    7 

3T 

**•  / 

32 

For  waste                                                .  .             . 

•30  8 

•3,2    Q 

A  e   6 

•* 

2A.    "? 

Total                                    .   . 

68  o 

7t    o 

87  o 

60    7 

uy.  / 

3° 

Classification  of  abuses  and  leaks  discovered  and  corrected  for  the 
year  1882: 

Willful  cases,  abuses  in  water-closets 170 

Willful  cases,  abuses  in  hydrants 211 

Willful  cases,  abuses  in  urinals •* 19 

400 

Leaks  in  water-closets 389 

Leaks  in  faucets 771 

Leaks  in  hydrants i,  107 

Leaks  in  hose-plugs 119 

Leaks  in  lead  pipes 286 

2,672 

Underground  leaks  in  lead  pipes 299 

Underground  leaks  in  stops 86 

Underground  leaks  in  hydrant-stocks 1,035 

1,420 

Miscellaneous  leaks 314 

Total  abuses  and  leaks 4,806 

[Several  other  cities  have  a  large  proportion  of  their  connections 
metered.  In  Worcester,  Mass.,  80  per  cent.,  in  Fall  River,  Mass.,  66 
per  cent.,  and  in  Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  60  per  cent,  of  the  services  are  sup- 
plied through  meters.  In  Taunton,  Mass.,  25  per  cent.,  and  in  Yonkers, 
N.  Y.,  58  per  cent,  of  the  services  are  metered,  with  very  good  results.* 
May,  1885.  J 

*  See  "  Statistical  Tables  of  American  Water- Works"  by  /.  /.  R.  Croes,  C.  E. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


NEW  YORK. 

MEASURES    ADOPTED    BY    THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    PUBLIC    WORKS   PRIOR 

TO    1882. 

THE  following  letter  from  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works 
of  New  York  City  explains  what  the  Department  has  been  doing  in  the 
matter  of  restricting  waste  : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  WORKS,  } 

COMMISSIONER'S  OFFICE,  No.  31  CHAMBERS  STREET,  v 

NEW  YORK,  February  21,  1883.      ) 

To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

SIR:  In  answer  to  your  inquiries  in  reference  to  the  subject  of 
waste  water  in  this  city,  I  beg  to  say  : 

The  first  practical  steps  against  waste  of  water  were  taken  in  1876, 
by  establishing  a  system  of  house  inspection  to  detect  and  prevent  leaks 
in  plumbing  and  willful  waste  in  letting  water  run  from  faucets  un- 
necessarily. 

The  next  step  was  the  abrogation,  in  1877,  of  the  contract  or  license 
system  of  supplying  water  to  shipping  and  for  building  purposes,  by 
which  immense  quantities  of  water  were  wasted  along  the  water-front 
and  in  the  erection  of  buildings.  This  service  is  now  under  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  competent  inspectors,  and  the  greater  portion  of  the 
water  supplied  to  shipping  is  measured  by  meters. 

The  last  and  most  effective  measure  against  waste  is  the  use  of 
water-meters.  On  January  i,  1877,  there  were  only  260  water-meters 
in  use  in  the  city.  In  1877  and  1878  the  number  was  increased  to  922; 
in  1879  to  Jj39^  J  m  J88o  to  4,002  ;  in  1881  to  5,293  ;  and  at  this  date 
there  are  6,924  meters  in  use. 

The  expenditures  of  the  various  measures  for  the  suppression  of 
waste  are  paid  from  the  appropriation  for  "  Repairs  and  Renewals  of 
Pipes,  Stop-cocks,  etc.,"  which  is  the  appropriation  for  the  repairs  and 
maintenance  of  the  entire  distributing  system,  comprising  531  miles  of 
water-pipes,  with  5,613  stop-cocks,  and  6,944  fire-hydrants. 


32 

The  Department  estimate  for  this  appropriation  for  the  year  1883 
was  as  follows  : 

Four  repair  companies,  each  consisting  of  one  foreman,  two 

carts,  and  twenty-one  mechanics  and  laborers $82,000 

One  gang  of  mechanics  and  laborers,  employed  in  placing 
taps  in  water-pipes,  and  cutting  off  taps  for  non-pay- 
ment of  water-rents,  waste  of  water,  etc 24,000 

For  new  1 2-inch  and  6-inch  pipes,  stop-cocks,  hydrants, 
fixtures,  materials,  and  supplies  for  renewals  and 
repairs 122,000 

For  services  of  engineers,  meter  inspectors,  inspectors  of 
waste,  superintendent,  and  inspectors  on  water  sup- 
ply to  shipping,  clerks  on  water-meter  accounts,  etc. .  72,000 

Total $300,000 

The  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  in  the  final  estimate 
appropriated  only  $170,000. 

It  is  evident  that  with  the  constant  and  rapid  growth  of  the  city, 
the  increased  demands  on  the  water  service,  the  addition  of  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  miles  of  pipe  each  year  to  the  distributing  system,  and  the 
wear  of  the  older  pipes  and  stop-cocks,  the  expense  of  repairs  and 
maintenance  must  increase  from  year  to  year,  and  the  necessity  for 
further  suppression  of  waste,  in  order  to  meet  the  new  demands  on  the 
water  supply,  grows  in  the  same  proportion. 

For  years  past  the  appropriations  have  been  inadequate  to  afford 
means  for  the  renewal  of  the  old  pipes  and  stop-cocks  along  the  water- 
fronts, which  are  so  reduced  by  corrosion  from  contact  with  salt  water 
that  they  are  unsafe. 

The  measures  for  the  suppression  of  waste  began  with  the  places 
and  establishments  where  the  consumption  and  waste  of  water  were 
greatest — the  docks,  gas-works,  breweries,  malt-houses,  railroads,  hotels, 
factories,  large  stables,  etc.  As  the  work  is  extended  to  the  smaller 
and  more  numerous  business  places,  it  becomes  more  laborious  in  pro- 
portion to  the  results  which  can  and  which  must  be  attained  to  keep  up 
an  efficient  supply. 

It  will  be  impossible,  with  the  amount  appropriated  by  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment,  to  perform  the  various  work  and  duties 
referred  to,  to  the  extent  and  with  that  degree  of  promptitude  and 
efficiency  which  the  situation  calls  for. 

In  carrying  out  the  various  measures  for  the  suppression  of  waste 
of  water  the  department  now  employs — 
On  water  meters : 

One  general  inspector  to  examine  places  after  they  are  metered. 

Twelve  inspectors  to  read  meters  and  keep  them  in  order. 

One  inspector  to  test  meters  in  pipe-yard. 

Three  clerks  on  meter  accounts. 
On  waste  of  water : 

One  general  inspector. 

Eighteen  inspectors  to  examine  plumbing  in  buildings. 

Four  inspectors  to  examine  house-drains  in  sewers  at  night. 


33 

One  inspector  to  examine  new  buildings. 

One  inspector  to  visit  houses  where  water  is  found  wasting  through 
drains  at  night. 

On  supply  of  water  to  shipping,  etc.' : 
One  superintendent. 
One  clerk  keeping  accounts. 
Seven  inspectors  along  the  water-front  and  at  new  buildings. 

Very  respectfully, 

HUBERT  O.  THOMPSON, 

Commissioner  of  Public  Works. 

The  foregoing  omits  to  state  one  method  adopted  to  check  waste, 
which,  after  all,  is  the  principal  one,  aside  from  the  use  of  the  6,924 
meters,  that  has  secured  any  practical  results — that  is,  the  throttling  of 
the  distributing-pipe  or  partial  closing  of  the  gates  from  the  Central 
Park  reservoir.  The  engineers,  some  time  since,  realized  that  unless 
they  kept  the  pressure  down  in  the  mains,  except  in  case  of  a  fire,  the 
water  would  be  drawn  out  of  the  reservoir  faster  than  it  could  be  deliv- 
ered to  it — in  other  words,  95,000,000  gallons  was  all  that  could  run  into 
it  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  so  throttle  the 
distributing-pipes  as  to  limit  the  quantity  withdrawn  to  that  amount,  or 
else  the  city  would  be  without  any  reserve  whatever,  a  contingency  not 
pleasant  to  contemplate,  with  the  possibility  of  breaks  in  the  aqueduct. 
It  may  be  asked,  Why  throttle  the  pipes  and  not  give  us  what  pressure 
there  is  ?  We  would  reply  that,  with  the  present  worn-out  plumbing  and 
leaking  fittings  all  over  this  city,  and  defective  pipes  under  the  streets, 
the  leakage  would  increase  as  the  pressure  was  increased,  and,  in  our 
opinion,  if  a  pressure  of  forty  pounds  per  square  inch  were  maintained 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  city,  assuming  such  a  thing  possible^ 
the  amount  of  water  consumed  would  be  at  least  125,000,000  gallons 
per  day,  instead  of  95,000,000  as  it  is  now.  It  is,  therefore,  evident  that 
we  must  do  as  was  done  in  Norwich,  Liverpool,  and  other  English  cities, 
and  that  is,  stop  the  leaks  in  the  houses  and  underground,  and  keep 
them  stopped,  or  any  additional  pressure,  when  we  do  get  it,  will  simply 
increase  the  waste,  and  so  much  of  it  as  soaks  in  the  ground  will  moisten 
the  soil  about  our  habitations  and  increase  the  mortality  from  lung 
diseases. 

[There  is  reason  to  believe  that  considerable  work  has  been  accom- 
plished within  the  past  two  years.  The  number  of  meters  has  largely 
increased,  there  being  over  11,000  now  in  use,  or  about  12  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  of  house-connections.  May,  1885.] 


CHAPTER  VII. 


GENERAL   CONCLUSIONS. 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  endeavored  to  show  what,  in  the 
absence  of  stringent  regulations,  is  inevitable  in  any  community  that 
has  a  public  water  supply — namely,  that  habits  of  wastefulness  are 
formed,  grow,  and  become  difficult  to  control ;  that  sooner  or  later,  as 
a  direct  consequence,  scarcity  prevails  and  demands  exceed  anticipation. 
Hitherto  these  demands  have  been  met  by  taking  possession  of  availa- 
ble sources  of  supply  or  increasing  pumping  facilities.  Such  sources, 
however,  are  rapidly  becoming  scarce,  and  the  pumping  is  found  to  be 
expensive  ;  indeed,  our  conditions  are  rapidly  assuming  the  proportions 
found  in  Great  Britain,  and,  like  Great  Britain,  we  must  grapple  with 
this  problem  of  waste  and  its  prevention. 

The  experience  obtained  there  we  have  briefly  outlined  in  the  fore- 
going chapters,  and,  so  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  the  facts,  we  have 
given  our  American  cities  credit  for  what  they  have  done  in  that  direc- 
tion, though  we  regret  so  little  is  to  be  recorded.  It  now  remains  to 
enumerate  the  methods  that  might  be  made  available  in  the  city  of  New 
York — provided  the  needed  money  and  powers  be  granted — and  to 
suggest  the  various  conditions  involved  that  seem  to  require  considera- 
tion. 

First — The  placing  of  a  meter  in  every  house,  assuming  no  control 
over  plumbing,  but  relying  on  consumers'  desire  to  economize  in  water- 
tax,  to  secure  a  stoppage  of  waste,  to  cause  the  reconstruction  of  defec- 
tive plumbing  and  the  removal  of  wasteful  fixtures. 

This  plan  suggests  the  following  points  for  consideration  : 

Will  the  knowledge  that  water  is  to  be  paid  for  by  measurement 
have  the  effect  of  preventing  any  considerable  number  of  our  people 
from  bathing  and  from  using  sufficient  to  properly  flush  water-closets 
and  urinals,  thus  producing  insanitary  conditions  ? 

Can  this  be  obviated  by  allowing  an  ample  amount  per  capita  for 
legitimate  use,  for  which  a  specified  tax  is  to  be  made,  said  tax  to  be 
paid  whether  this  water  is  used  or  not,  but  whatever  may  be  used  in 
addition  thereto  to  be  paid  for  by  measurement  ? 


35 

Since  large  numbers  of  consumers  are  tenants,  moving  every  year, 
are  they  likely  to  find  it  cheaper  to  retain  leaking  fittings,  wasteful  fix- 
tures, and  pipes  exposed  to  frost,  paying  the  water-rates  required,  rather 
than  go  to  the  expense  of  reconstructing  the  plumbing  in  a  house 
owned  by  another  in  which  they  have  but  a  temporary  interest  ? 

Would  a  consideration  of  the  foregoing  indicate  that  the  use  of 
meters  would  make  the  supervision  of  plumbing  in  buildings  superfluous  ? 

What  measures  should  be  adopted  to  ascertain  when  waste  was 
taking  place  underground  ? 

What  would  be  the  probable  expense  of  placing  meters  in  the 
95,000  houses  in  New  York — that  is,  cost  of  meters  and  expense  of 
setting  them — and  what  time  would  be  required  to  do  it  ? 

What  would  be  a  fair  amount  to  charge  for  interest  on  the  outlay, 
cost  of  repairs  and  maintenance,  and  what  amount  per  year  should  be 
allowed  for  wear  and  tear  ? 

What  amounc  would  be  required  for  the  clerical  staff  to  keep  the 
accounts  and  render  quarterly  bills,  which  would  seem  necessary  if  the 
bills  are  to  be  relied  on  to  enforce  care  in  the  use  of  water  ? 

What  number  of  inspectors  would  be  required  to  take  the  readings 
of  the  meters  ? 

Should  the  city  pay  for  meters,  if  it  is  decided  that  they  be  used,  or 
should  the  Providence  plan  be  resorted  to — namely,  revise  the  water- 
rates  so  that  a  charge  be  made  for  every  tap  and  fixture,  unless  the 
house-owner  elects  to  accept  and  pay  for  a  meter,  it  being  understood 
that  a  specified  tax  shall  be  paid  whether  water  is  used  or  not,  but  only 
the  excess  of  this  specified  amount  to  be  charged  for  by  measurement  ? 

Second— It  the  general  use  of  meters  in  this  city  is  objected  to,  and 
systems  of  inspection  are  to  be  relied  on,  are  the  inspections  to  be  made 
only  where  waste  is  indicated,  by  the  adoption  of  some  agency  like 
the  Deacon  meter,  Bell's  waterphone,  Church's  indicator,  or  any  other 
device,  to  indicate  the  flow  of  liquids  ? 

Are  examinations  of  premises  to  be  restricted  to  those  in  which 
some  outside  agency  indicates  waste  is  occurring  ? 


36 

Would  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  adopting  and  maintaining  some 
outside  agency  to  determine  where  waste,  either  underground  or  in  a 
building,  was  prevailing,  be  more  than  offset  by  the  facility  of  reaching 
leaks,  the  probable  employment  of  a  smaller  force  of  inspectors,  the 
being  able  to  have  a  check  on  their  operations,  and  the  exemption  of 
householders  whose  fittings  are  in  good  order  from  periodical  visits  and 
the  annoyance  attendant  thereon  ? 

If  fittings  were  required  to  conform  to  a  standard,  to  be  examined 
and  stamped  (fees  to  be  charged  therefor),  would  not  the  occupants  of 
the  houses,  or  those  who  buy  them,  be  saved  the  expense  of  frequent 
repairs,  early  renewals,  and  would  waste  in  any  measure  be  prevented  ? 

Is  it  possible  in  a  large  city,  with  a  large  moving  population,  occu- 
pying buildings  erected  or  owned  by  others,  to  secure  the  proper  loca- 
tion of  pipes  and  the  use  of  proper  fittings  in  the  absence  of  rules 
rigidly  and  constantly  enforced  ?  | 

With  the  conditions  existing  in  New  York,  what  outdoor  agency  to 
indicate  when  waste  was  taking  place,  either  in  or  outside  buildings, 
could  be  adopted  with  the  best  advantage,  taking  into  account  cost  and 
results  to  be  obtained  ? 

Third — If  the  former  two  plans  are  deemed  impracticable,  is  there 
any  that  can  be  adopted  that  will  secure  any  reasonable  results  other  than 
the  Manchester  system,  which  requires  the  testing  and  stamping  of  fit- 
tings, that  plumbing-work  be  done  in  accordance  with  prescribed  rules, 
and  that  all  wasting  or  wasteful  fittings  be  replaced  by  approved  and 
proper  ones,  and  that  all  buildings  and  all  parts  of  buildings  where 
water  flows  shall  be  frequently  inspected  ?  And  must  the  annoyance  to 
house-owners  therein  involved  be  imposed  ? 

Would  any  system  secure  adequate  results  that  did  not  involve  the 
testing  and  stamping  of  fittings,  supervision  and  control  of  plumbing, 
inspection  of  buildings,  repair  or  removal  of  defective  and  wasteful  fix- 
tures ? 

Which  of  the  plans  described  would  involve  the  constant  employ- 
ment of  the  smallest  permanent  staff  in  proportion  to  the  results 
obtainable  ? 

We  have  here  indicated  some  of  the  questions  to  be  considered  by 
those  who  may  be  required  to  adopt  and  sanction  a  plan  for  cities  like 


37 

New  York  that  require  consideration.  It  will  be  evident  that,  no  matter 
which  method  is  adopted,  a  considerable  expenditure  of  money  is  inevit- 
able, and  that  with  one  scheme  the  first  outlay  maybe  larger  and  the  cost 
of  maintenance  more,  while  another,  though  probably  more  annoying  to 
householders,  involves  a  smaller  investment  and  a  less  cost  of  mainte- 
nance, though  to  obtain  adequate  results,  it  requires  a  better  system  of 
admistration  and  a  better  class  of  men  than  have  hitherto  been  selected 
for  such  duties. 

It  is  clear  that  something  must  be  done,  and  the  longer  it  is  put  off 
the  more  complicated  becomes  the  problem  and  the  greater  the  final 
expense. 

A  demand  from  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  for  the  needed 
money  to  carry  out  any  effective  plan  will,  in  the  present  condition  of 
public  sentiment,  meet  with  opposition  and  suspicion.* 

Without  discussing  the  causes  that  produce  this  feeling,  we  are  of 
the  opinion  that  the  best  thing  to  be  done  under  the  circumstances  is  to 
have  the  Mayor  appoint  a  commission  of  three  gentlemen,  who  have  the 
confidence  of  the  public  and  the  profession,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall 
be  a  civil  engineer  of  experience  in  the  matter  of  water  supply  and  dis- 
tribution, and  who  is  not  directly  or  indirectly  interested  or  identified 
with  any  system  or  plan.  These  gentlemen  should  take  testimony  and 
investigate  the  subject  thoroughly,  and,  as  soon  as  practicable,  recom- 
mend a  plan.  They  should  also  submit  a  bill  for  enactment,  if  any 
additional  legislation  seems  to  them  necessary. 

If  this  is  done,  and  any  reasonable  plan  honestly  and  efficiently 
carried  out  and  enforced,  this  city  will  be  relieved  from  severe  burdens 
and  very  possible  calamities  ;  and  if  the  information  we  have  gathered 
and  recorded  will  in  the  slightest  degree  contribute  anything  toward  the 
accomplishment  of  so  desirable  a  result,  we  shall  feel  amply  repaid  for 
the  labor  involved  in  the  preparation  of  these  articles. 

*  This  remark,  written  in  1883,  is  equally  true  at  this  time,  and  has  been  abun- 
dantly proven  by  the  comments  of  the  daily  press  and  the  action  of  the  Legislature  on 
the  request  made  a  few  days  ago  by  the  present  Commissioner.  May,  1885. 


APPENDIX. 


WATER-WASTE  PREVENTION  IN  BOSTON. 

FOLLOWING  the  publication  of  the  foregoing  articles  a  new  water 
board  was  appointed  in  Boston,  which,  having  the  records  and  reports 
of  the  city  engineers  for  several  years  prior  to  stimulate  its  action,  and 
the  evidence  to  demonstrate  what  had  been  done  elsewhere,  secured 
from  the  City  Council  power  and  funds,  which  it  has  utilized  in  a  very 
satisfactory  manner,  as  is  shown  by  the  report  of  its  first  year's  opera- 
tions, which  was  published  in  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER,  of  November 
13,  1884. 


CHECKING  WASTE  OF  WATER  IN  BOSTON.* 

THE  present  board  early  realized  that  the  prevention  of  waste  was 
one  of  the  most  important  and  difficult  problems  with  which  all  large 
water-consuming  communities  are  obliged  to  contend.  It  is  conceded 
by  all  experienced  observers  that  at  least  40  per  cent,  of  the  water 
supplied  to  large  towns  and  cities  is  willfully  wasted.  The  majority  of 
people  seem  to  be  possessed  of  the  idea  that  water  should  be  supplied 
as  free  as  air,  and  hence  all  idea  of  economy  in  its  use  seems  to  be  ban- 
ished. Restrictive  measures  have  seldom  been  applied  in  our  country, 
and  the  result  is  that  everybody  has  become  extravagant  and  wasteful. 

We  stated  in  our  report  of  September  last  that  the  enormous  wast- 
age constantly  taking  place  had  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
City  Council  every  year  since  1852,  but  that  practically  nothing  had 
been  done  to  remedy  it.  The  Joint  Standing  Committee  on  Water,  in 
its  report  of  April  30,  1883,  urged  that  immediate  measures  should  be 
taken  to  stop  this  waste  and  reduce  consumption.  We  believed  that 
the  consumption  should  be  reduced  from  95  to  at  least  60  gallons  per 

*  From  the  eighth  annual  report  of  the  Boston  Water  Board  for  the  year  ending 
April  30,  1884,  but  including  the  operations  for  checking  waste  up  to  September  i, 

1884. 


4°  APPENDIX. 

capita,  and  that  if  this  could  be  done  a  very  large  amount  of  money 
would  be  saved  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  city.  We  accordingly  organized 
early  in  July,  1883,  the  Division  of  Inspection  and  Waste.  The  work 
accomplished  by  this  division  last  year  was  of  very  great  importance  to 
the  city  ;  indeed,  without  it  we  should  have  been  compelled  to  cut  off 
the  supply  during  a  part  of  the  severe  drought  of  last  year  from  a  consid- 
erable number  of  our  citizens.  The  tabulated  results  of  the  labor  of  this 
division  appear  in  our  reports  of  September  and  December  last,  and  in  the 
appended  report  of  Superintendent  Cashman.  This  report  confirms  the 
correctness  of  the  judgment  and  policy  of  the  board,  and  shows  that 
continuous  systematic  inspection  is  an  essential  element  in  the  preven- 
tion of  the  wanton  waste  now  so  prevalent  in  all  large  communities. 
Under  this  inspection  the  premises  and  fixtures  of  every  water-taker 
have  been  visited  several  times  during  the  year,  the  leakages  stopped, 
the  defective  pipes  and  apparatus  repaired,  and  the  people  taught  to 
respect  and  obey  the  city  ordinances  with  reference  to  the  prevention 
of  waste. 

During  a  part  of  the  present  year,  since  the  date  of  Mr.  Cashman's 
report,  the  Deacon  system  of  waste-detection  has  been  in  operation  in 
conjunction  with  the  house-to-house  inspection,  and  up  to  the  pres- 
ent writing,  September  i,  the  results  have  been  very  satisfactory. 


SUDBURY    AND    COCHITUATE   WORKS. 


1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

Daily  average 
consumption. 

Gallons 
per  head 
per  day. 

Daily  average 
consumption. 

Gallons 
per  head 
per  day. 

Daily  average 
consumption. 

Gallons 
per  head 
per  day. 

January  .  .        .      .    . 

32,I5I,IOO 

92.9 

34.715,500 

Q7.8 

32,l62,3OO 

88.4 

February  

34,662,300 

IO2.2 

32,690,700 

92.O 

24,598,000 

67.5 

March 

^2,  6^6,300 

Q4.I 

34,IIO,7OO 

05.8 

23,711,900 

65.O 

April  

30,827,000 

88.6 

30,617,600 

85.8 

21,505,700 

58.8 

May.. 

28,738,000 

82.3 

32,169,500 

89.8 

23,708,500 

64.6 

T 

June  ... 

^1,178,400 

04  8 

33  4IQ,2OO 

qa.q 

26,184,600 

71.2 

July.  . 

30,992,600 

88.5 

36,774,000 

102.4 

25,409,000 

68.9 

August 

•24    I4Q    OQO 

Q7  3 

37  141  OOO 

IO3  2 

25  O65,2OO 

67  7 

September     

31,691,600 

QO  O 

33  645,600 

03.2 

October 

31  563  800 

80  4 

2Q  575  8OO 

8l  Q 

November 

31  138  7OO 

88  7 

28  83Q  3OO 

ox.y 
70.6 

.           ... 

December  

32,3^2,300 

QI.4 

3O  I74.2OO 

83.O 

....  ::::. 

- 

APPENDIX. 
MYSTIC  WORKS. 


1883. 

1884. 

Daily   average 
consumption. 

Gallons 
per  head 
per  day. 

Daily  average 
consumption. 

Gallons 
per  head 
per  day. 

January 

8,369,600 

97.3 

8,OI9,IOO 

92.2 

February                                                •  . 

7,714,650 

89.6 

6,340,500 

72.  q 

March                                             .  . 

7,737,300 

89.8 

6,337,IOO 

72.7 

April                             

6,171,150 

71.5 

5,242,IOO 

60.  1 

6,319,100 

73.1 

5,8OO,OOO 

66.4 

Tune                                                  .... 

6,912,550 

80.0 

6,245,600 

71.5 

Tulv 

7,307,550 

84.5 

6,312,300 

72.1 

Aujrust                                              

7,26l,5OO 

83.9 

6,088,400 

69.5 

September 

e.  84.6  3OO 

* 

07  4. 

October 

5  4Q7  25O 

63.4 

November                     .        

5,030,600 

68.3 

December             

6,771,500 

77.0 

The  tables  show  the  daily  aggregate  and  per  capita  consumption 
in  the  Cochituate  and  Mystic  departments  for  the  first  eight  months  of 
1884  in  comparison  with  the  corresponding  months  of  1883,  this  period 
being  covered  by  the  present  system  of  inspection  ;  and  also  a  statement 
of  the  average  daily  consumption  for  several  months  prior  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  work  of  inspection. 

The  tables  show  the  daily  average  consumption  in  the  Cochituate 
supply  from  January  I,  1883,  to  September,  1883,  to  have 
been 33,954,775  gals. 

And  for  the  corresponding  period  of  the  present  year, 

under  the  inspection  system 25,293,150    " 

{< 

A  net  daily  average  reduction  of 8,661,625    " 

or  about  26  per  cent,  saving. 

In  the  Mystic  Department,   for  the  same  period  in 
1883,  the  average  daily  consumption  was.  . .  .  7,224,175   • 

And  for  the  corresponding  period  in  1884,  6,299,262 

A  net  daily  average  reduction  of  13  per 
cent.,  or 924,913    " 

Making  a  total  average  daily  reduction 9, 586, 538    * ' 

It  is  computed  that  the  actual  cost  to  the  city  for  each  100  gallons 
of  water  furnished  is  about  IT%-  cents,  and  upon  this  basis  the  reduc- 
tion in  consumption  represents  in  round  numbers  the  sum  of  $1,200 
per  day  during  the  first  eight  months  of  1884.  Again,  it  will  be 
observed  that  in  the  months  of  July  and  August,  which  may  properly  be 


42  APPENDIX. 

cited  at  this  writing,  the  Deacon  system  being  in  full  operation,  the 
consumption  was  reduced  34  and  36  gallons  per  head  each  day  for  those 
months  respectively. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  make  a  single  comparison  between  the 
consumption  of  1882  and  1883,  when  no  special  efforts  were  in  progress 
to  economize  the  supply. 

The  daily  average  consumption  in  the  Cochituate  cupply  from  January 

I,  1882,  to  September  of  the  same  year,  was 32,116,288  gals. 

And  for  the  corresponding  period  in  1883  it  was. . .  .  33,920,422    " 

Making  an  increased  daily  average  consumption  of ..     1,804,134    " 

In  the  Mystic  supply  the  daily  average  consumption 
for  the  year  1882  was 6,574,400  " 

The  daily  average  for  the  first  eight  months  of  1883 
(being  the  non-inspection  period)  was 7,224,175  " 


A  net  daily  average  increase  of 649,775 

And  the  net  daily  average  increase  of  1882  over  1881 
was 330,300 

The  daily  average  consumption  in  the  Mystic  for  the 
first  eight  months  of  1883  (the  non-inspection  period) 
was 7,224,175 

And  for  the  last  four  months  after  inspection  began. .     6,011,412 


A  daily  average  reduction  of 1,212,763    " 

The  average  consumption  per  head  per  day  for  the 
year  1882  (discarding  fractions)  was 89    " 

And  for  the  non-inspection    period    of  1883,   eight 
months,  from  January  to  September,  it  was 92^  " 

For  the  corresponding  period  of  1884 69    " 

Showing  a  net  average  reduction  of  20  gallons  per  head  in  1884  over 
1882,  and  23^  gallons  over  1883. 

The  large  decrease  in  consumption  materially  lessens  the  cost  of 
pumping,  the  saving  in  coal  at  the  Highland  pumping-station 
alone  being  35  per  cent,  for  the  first  eight  months  of  1884  over  the  cor- 
responding period  of  last  year. 

These  results  demonstrate  beyond  question  the  wisdom,  as  well  as 
the  necessity,  for  the  adoption  of  measures  to  check  the  prodigal  waste 
which  prevails.  Unless  some  radical  system  be  adopted,  which  will 
keep  the  consumption  down  to  60  gallons  or  less  per  capita,  the  taxpay- 
ers of  Boston  will  be  compelled,  at  a  very  early  day,  to  expend  several 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  erection  of  additional  reservoirs,  and 
several  millions  of  dollars  in  obtaining  a  new  source  of  supply.  The 
city  of  Providence,  with  relatively  the  same  industrial  interests  and  class 
of  people  as  our  own  community,  keeps  her  consumption  down  to  about 


APPENDIX.  43 

36  gallons  per  head  per  day.  That  of  Boston  for  July,  1883',  was  102 
gallons  per  head  each  day,  and  in  July  of  the  present  year,  under  the 
inspection  system,  69  gallons  per  head.  It  will  be  observed  that,  even 
with  this  great  reduction  of  the  present  year,  we  are  still  using  nearly 
100  per  cent,  greater  amount  of  water  per  capita  than  our  more  pru- 
dent neighbor.  In  Providence,  however,  more  than  50  per  cent,  of  her 
consumers  are  supplied  by  the  meter  or  measurement  system,  while 
with  us  scarcely  10  per  cent,  are  supplied  by  this  method.  Providence 
is,  perhaps,  the  only  city  in  the  United  States  which  has  undertaken  to 
manage  its  water  interests  with  the  same  reference  to  business  princi- 
ples that  prevails  among  business  men  everywhere. 

In  connection  with  ;he  house-to-house  inspection  system,  and  as  a 
necessary  supplement  thereto,  the  board  adopted  the  policy  recom- 
mended in  its  December  report,  as  follows  : 

First — To  put  recording  meters  on  all  manufactories,  breweries,  stores,  business 
-establishments,  hotels,  tenement-houses,  and  all  other  places  where  a  large  quantity  of 
water  is  used,  or  where  waste  prevails. 

Second — To  establish  Deacon  waste-detectors  in  the  residential  portions  of  the  terri- 
tory supplied  with  water,  making  specific  districts,  and  doing  the  work  in  conjunction 
with  the  house-to-house  inspection. 

Third — To  begin  the  putting  in  of  sidewalk  stop-cocks  at  once,  adopting  the  Church 
.stop-cock  as  the  best  complement  to  the  Deacon,  if  the  further  trials  continue  to  prove 
its  excellence. 

Recording-meters  have  been  applied  in  accordance  with  this  ori- 
ginal plan.  The  meters  used  have  been  largely  those  of  the  Tremont 
pattern.  They  have  been  delivered  as  fast  as  the  city  could  use  them, 
and  have  proven  generally  satisfactory  both  with  reference  to  workman- 
ship and  accuracy. 

The  Deacon  system  of  waste-detectors  is  at  this  writing  (Septem- 
ber i)  fully  applied  to  the  Cochituate  Department.  This  system  was 
thoroughly  tested  in  the  Mystic  Department  in  1882  by  Assistant  Engi- 
neer Dexter  Brackett,  and  was  recommended  by  Mr.  Henry  M.  Wight- 
man,  the  engineer  of  the  board,  and  Alderman  Greenough,  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Water  Committee,  before  the  present  Water  Board  was 
.appointed.  To  these  gentlemen  should  be  given  in  large  part  the  credit 
of  introducing  this  very  efficient  system  into  Boston.  We  now  have 
some  seventy-five  of  the  Deacon  detectors  in  operation,  and  the  work 
being  done  by  them  is  of  a  satisfactory  character. 

The  board  was  directed  by  the  City  Council,  on  the  ipth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1882,  to  make  an  examination  of  the  merits  of  the  Church  stop- 
cock, and  a  very  thorough  series  of  tests  were  made  last  year  under  the 


44  APPENDIX. 

supervision  of  Assistant  Engineer  Dexter  Brackett,  and  a  full  report  of 
the  same  appeared  in  the  report  of  December  6,  1883,  page  40.  Since 
that  time  Mr.  Henry  M.  Wightman,  engineer  of  the  board,  has  made 
various  experiments  with  this  stop-cock,  and  several  important  changes 
have  been  made  in  it  as  the  result  of  his  suggestions.  The  inventor, 
Chief  Engineer  B.  S.  Church,  of  the  New  York  Aqueduct  Commission, 
has  also  made  a  very  valuable  addition  to  the  instrument,  by  means  of 
which  the  particular  floor  upon  which  the  water  may  be  leaking  or  run- 
ning is  indicated  on  the  dial  attached  to  the  stop-cock  in  the  sidewalk. 
The  board  has  been  conducting  tests  and  experiments  with  this  inven- 
tion for  more  than  twelve  months,  and  is  satisfied  that  it  is  the  best  stop- 
cock for  general  purposes  and  waste-water  detection  combined.  No 
city  or  town  having  a  water-supply  should  be  without  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  sidewalk  stop-cocks.  Every  service  applied  in  Boston  for  the 
past  few  years  has  been  accompanied  by  such  a  stop-cock.  The  failure 
of  our  water  authorities  to  apply  them  originally  was  a  grave  mistake, 
and  one  which  no  other  large  community,  save  New  York,  has  committed. 
The  plan  of  the  board  is  to  gradually  apply  these  instruments  until  the 
city  has  its  full  complement.  At  this  writing  the  Church  stop-cock  has- 
been  adopted  by  the  board,  and  5,000  of  them  have  been  ordered.  The 
necessity  of  the  early  application  of  sidewalk  stop-cocks  was  pre- 
sented in  our  report  of  December  (page  48),  and  has  frequently  been 
urged  by  Engineer  Wightman. 

We  have  also  made  extensive  experiments  with  the  Bell  water- 
phone,  which  has  been  used  very  successfully  in  Cincinnati  and  Phila- 
delphia, and  is  about  to  be  introduced  in  New  York.  Our  experiments, 
however,  were  not  successful,  for  the  reason  that,  in  the  absence  of  side- 
walk stop-cocks,  wires  were  used  to  connect  the  waterphone  with  the 
service-pipe,  and  the  results  were  unsatisfactory.  We  contemplate  giv- 
ing this  system  another  trial  at  an  early  day,  in  the  Mystic  Department, 
where  sidewalk  stop-cocks  exist,  and  where  the  same  conditions  will 
obtain  as  in  other  cities  in  which  it  has  met  with  success. 

It  is  a  matter  of  frequent  complaint  that  the  system  of  house-to- 
house  inspection  established  by  the  board  is  annoying  to  water-takers  ; 
the  frequent  visitations  of  inspectors  to  premises  of  water-takers  are 
looked  upon  as  a  system  of  espionage.  There  may  be  some  measure  of 
truth  in  these  complaints,  but  there  is  no  present  remedy.  There  is  but 
one  other  large  city  in  the  country  so  deficient  in  sidewalk  stop-cocks 
as  Boston ;  and  until  these  are  generally  applied  and  the  recording- 
meter  service  largely  extended,  we  must  continue  the  house-to-house 
inspection  system,  or  submit  to  the  prodigal  waste  which  has  heretofore 


APPENDIX.  45 

prevailed.  There  is  no  middle  ground.  People  will  not  repair  their 
defective  fixtures,  and  will  not  stop  wasting  water  unless  compelled  to 
do  so  by  official  visitation,  or  by  the  adoption  of  a  measurement  sys- 
tem which  will  oblige  them  to  pay  for  all  the  water  used. 

Our  inspection  corps  is  composed  of  gentlemanly  officials.  Each 
officer  is  provided  with  a  badge,  which  must  always  be  worn  in  sight 
when  on  duty,  and  a  commission  which  he  must  exhibit  on  demand. 
We  have  frequently  had  the  whole  corps  of  inspectors  before  the  .board, 
specially  to  instruct  them  with  reference  to  these  matters.  Whenever 
complaints  are  made  in  this  direction  the  board  causes  them  to  be  thor- 
oughly investigated,  and  prompt  action  is  always  taken.  The  board  has 
used  every  precaution  to  insure  courteous  treatment  to  the  water-takers 
and  secure  efficient  results  to  the  city.  This  system,  vigorously  fol- 
lowed up,  will  prevent  a  large  part  of  the  daily  waste  ;  and  no  other 
method  will  accomplish  it  except  the  recording-meter  or  measurement 
system.  When  this  is  applied,  and  people  are  required  to  pay  for  water 
as  they  do  for  gas,  they  will  not  waste  it.  The  meter  or  measurement 
system  could  not  be  universally  applied  to  Boston  except  at  a  very  large 
expense,  and  even  then  it  would  require  several  years. 

Recognizing  these  difficulties  the  board  adopted  the  only  feasible 
plan  of  reducing  the  consumption — that  of  an  efficient  house-to-house 
inspection — and  the  results  have  justified  its  action. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  commented  editorially  in  its  issue  of 
November  13,  1884,  on  the  results  of  this  action  of  the  Boston  Water 
Board  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  It  is  gratifying  to  see  that  our  labors  in  behalf  of  water-waste 
prevention  are  beginning  to  show  some  results  in  this  country.  In 
Volume  VII.  we  published  a  series  of  articles  showing  what  had  been 
done  in  English  cities,  and  in  Cincinnati  and  Providence,  by  honest, 
systematic  effort.  It  is,  therefore,  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  offer  further 
American  evidence  in  the  same  direction,  and  we  invite  a  perusal  of  an 
extract  from  the  report  of  the  Boston  Water  Board,  elsewhere  printed. 
We  hope  that  under  New  York's  new  municipal  management  an  honest 
effort  will  be  make  to  stop  the  criminal  waste  now  prevailing. 

"  The  report  of  the  Boston  Water  Board,  which  is  published  under 
date  of  May  i,  1884,  but  which  recites  the  operations  of  the  department 
up  to  September  i,  1884,  in  the  matter  of  waste-prevention,  is  startling 
as  exhibiting  the  utter  falsity  of  the  complaints  that  have  been  made  for 
years  by  managers  of  public  water-supplies  in  America,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  keep  consumers  from  wasting  water.  They  have  said  so  in 
Boston  year  after  year,  just  as  they  have  in  New  York  and  everywhere 


46  APPENDIX. 

else,  but  the  fact  is  that  they  have  never  tried  to  stop  waste  except  by 
exhortation,  which  has  proved  as  effective  as  a  judge's  charge  to  a  grand 
jury  is  in  preventing  crime.  But  the  present  Boston  Water  Board  has 
gone  to  work  systematically  and  sensibly,  and  has  already  produced 
results  even  more  extraordinary  than  those  brought  about  in  Cincinnati 
by  a  similar  procedure.  In  Cincinnati  the  result  of  a  systematic  inspec- 
tion of  waste  by  means  of  the  Bell  waterphone,  and  the  subsequent 
repairing  of  fixtures  leaking  by  accident  or  on  purpose,  reduced  the 
daily  consumption  16  per  cent,  (from  23  million  gallons  in  1881  to  19.3 
million  gallons  in  1883),  and  the  cost  of  fuel  forpumpingfrom$75,257.63 
to  $54,671.75.  In  Boston  the  application  of  the  Deacon  waste-detector 
on  the  mains  and  the  Church  stop-cock  on  service-pipes  reduced  the 
daily  consumption  of  May,  June,  July,  and  August  28  per  cent,  (from 
32.3  million  gallons  in  1883  to  25.1  million  gallons  in  1884)  in  the 
Cochituate  Department,  and  12  per  cent,  in  the  Mystic  Department. 

"  It  is  estimated  that  this  reduction  of  consumption  is  equivalent  to 
a  saving  of  $1,200  per  day  during  the  first  eight  months  of  1884.  This 
saving  does  not  bring  inconvenience  to  a  single  consumer.  The  quantity 
of  water  supplied  for  actual  use  is  not  curtailed  in  the  slightest  degree, 
and  no  individual  surfers  in  consequence  of  the  restrictions  placed  on 
the  immoderate  waste  of  careless  water-takers,  for  which,  under  the 
absurd  existing  system  of  selling  water  by  guess-work,  the  careful  con- 
sumer has  to  pay  more  than  his  proper  share.  It  is  time  that  the 
officials  of  other  cities  where  water  is  wasted  either  take  up  the  matter 
of  waste-repression  in  earnest,  or  are  themselves  looked  after  by  the 
taxpayers,  who  have  to  foot  the  bills  for  needless  extensions  of  works  of 
supply." 


WASTE-PREVENTION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

{From  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  December  31,  1884.} 
CONSUMPTION    AND    WASTE    OF    WATER. 

"  The  measures  adopted  by  the  Department  to  detect  and  check 
waste  of  water  were  pursued  to  the  fullest  extent  of  which  the  means 
appropriated  for  the  purpose  would  admit. 

"The  Waste  Inspectors  made  192,277  house  inspections,  detecting 
5,944  places  where  water  was  wasted  in  consequence  of  defective 
plumbing,  and  272  places  where  it  was  wasted  by  keeping  faucets  open. 
They  also  made  9,275  night  examinations  of  house-drains  to  find  places 
where  water  is  allowed  to  run  at  night ;  940  such  places  were  found* 


APPENDIX.  47 

the  flow  of  water  through  the  house-drains  into  the  sewers  being  at  the 
rate  of  from  one  to  five  gallons  per  minute.  In  any  one  of  these  cases 
more  water  is  wasted  than  would  supply  the  legitimate  needs  of  a  dozen 
large  families. 

"  While  the  measures  and  efforts  of  the  Department  for  several  years 
past  have  undoubtedly  resulted  in  great  improvement  in  respect  to  the 
general  waste  of  water,  there  is  one  old  habit  which  it  seems  impossible 
to  check  with  the  present  means  and  authority — viz.,  that  of  letting  the 
water  run  from  faucets  day  and  night  in  cold  weather  to  prevent  freez- 
ing in  the  pipes.  The  enormous  extent  of  this  waste  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  on  one  single  cold  day,  December  20,  the  water  in  the  Central 
Park  reservoir  was  drawn  down  five  inches,  showing  a  waste  of  13,000,- 
ooo  gallons  on  that  day  over  the  usual  consumption  and  over  the  supply 
received  through  the  aqueduct. 

"  Additional  water-meters,  the  most  effective  instrument  for  stopping 
waste,  were  placed  as  rapidly  as  practicable  during  the  year.  The  num- 
ber placed  is  2,613,  making  11,625  meters  in  use  on  December  31." 

In  reply  to  objections  made  by  some  persons  to  a  house-to-house 
inspection,  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  on  April  23, 1885,  thus  commented 
editorially  on  the  above  report : 

"  But  the  ground  is  now  taken  that  it  is  wrong  to  check  waste  be- 
cause the  wasted  water  cleans  the  drains  and  sewers.  This  is  nonsense. 
The  continual  dribble  of  a  faucet  does  not  clean  out  the  drains.  The 
emptying  of  a  bath,  a  basin,  or  a  water-closet  does  create  a  flush  which 
will  remove  obstacles,  but  the  passage  of  ten  times  that  amount  of  water 
distributed  over  a  long  period  does  not  have  that  effect  at  all. 

"  In  1884,  out  of  19,277  houses  inspected,  the  plumbing  was  defective 
in  5,944,  there  being  5,357  leaky  faucets.  There  were  9,275  night 
inspections  of  house-drains  made,  which  showed  that  in  940  of  them  water 
was  wasted  at  the  rate  of  one  to  five  gallons  a  minute.  At  this  rate,  there 
are  about  10,000  houses  in  this  city  which  deliberately  waste  about 
30,000,000  gallons  of  water  daily.  That  is  to  say,  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
water-takers  use  their  own  proper  proportion,  and  throw  away  three 
times  as  much  as  they  use.  Or  to  put  it  another  way,  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  consumers  make  way  with  nearly  forty  per  cent,  of  the  water 
distributed  for  equal  use  by  all.  If  these  wasteful  consumers  were 
restricted  to  their  proper  proportion  of  the  water,  each  one  of  the 
legitimate  users  might  have  nearly  fifty  per  cent,  more  water  than  he 
now  has,  without  increasing  the  supply  to  the  city.  Or  the  number  of 
consumers  might  be  increased  forty  per  cent,  without  increasing  the 
supply. 


48  APPENDIX. 

"  Now,  the  water-takers  last  year  numbered  about  97,000.  Of  these, 
11,000  were  supplied  by  meters,  and  used  20,000,000  gallons  a  day. 
The  remaining  86,000  used  85,000,000  gallons  a  day  and  paid  $1,367,000 
for  it.  Judging  from  the  result  of  the  night  inspections,  it  would  appear 
that  of  these,  77,000  used  about  58,000,000  gallons  a  day,  and  paid  about 
$16  a  year  each,  or  $58  per  million  gallons.  The  remaining  9,000  made 
away  with  27,000,000  gallons  a  day,  and  paid  $16  a  year  each,  or  about 
$15  per  million  gallons.  And  yet  we  are  told  that  it  is  not  proper  to 
compel  these  parties  to  pay  the  $43  per  million  gallons  of  which  they 
defraud  the  city.  For  fraud  it  is,  and  no  other  name  is  proper  for  it. 
It  is  as  much  a  crime  as  it  would  be  to  take  trees  and  flowers  out  of 
the  Central  Park  and  put  them  in  private  houses  or  throw  them  away ; 
or  to  take  furniture  out  of  the  public  buildings  or  paving-stones  out  of 
the  streets. 

"The  11,000  large  consumers  supplied  by  meter  paid  $80  for  each 
million  gallons  they  used.  Why  should  the  9,000  domestic  wasters  be 
allowed  to  get  their  water  for  $15  a  million  gallons  ?  Why  ?  Only  because 
somebody  is  afraid  that  part  of  the  money  saved  will  stick  to  some 
one's  ringers.  On  that  theory,  all  public  work  should  cease.  The 
suppression  of  waste  would  save  at  least  20,000,000  gallons  a  day,  or 
enough  to  supply  25,000  families  liberally.  This  would  represent  an 
income  to  the  city  of  at  least  $400,000  a  year,  and  would  be  cheaply 
attained  by  the  expenditure  of  one-fourth  of  that  sum." 


WASTE-PREVENTION  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  had  investigated  to  some  extent  the  methods  employed 
in  the  cities  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  response  to  the  following  letter,  published  the 
regulations  of  Liverpool  and  Glasgow,  given  below  : 

To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  :  May,  1882. 

SIR  :  At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  American  Water-Works  Association  in  Colum- 
bus, O.,  much  interest  was  manifested  and  considerable  discussion  had  regarding  the 
unnecessary  use  and  the  waste  of  water.  The  general  application  of  meters  to  all  classes 
of  consumers  was  advocated  by  some  managers  of  works  as  the  only  efficient  means  of 
checking  wastefulness.  Others  seemed  inclined  to  the  view  that  the  real  cause  of  the 
excessive  consumption  of  water  is  not  reached  by  meters.  They  insure  payment  for  all 
water  used,  to  be  sure,  and  thus  tend  to  make  the  consumer  sparing  in  the  use  of  water, 
but  they  do  not  repress  the  constant  wastage  of  small  amounts  through  defective 
plumbing,  which  seems  to  be  the  principal  factor  in  producing  the  enormous  night 
consumption,  which  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  use  in  the  day  time. 


APPENDIX.  49 

As  this  matter  has  been  more  thoroughly  investigated  in  some  English  towns  than 
in  this  country,  and  practical  results  have  been  attained  in  the  checking  of  waste,  the 
publication  here  of  the  methods  employed  and  the  results  reached  there  would  be  of 
great  value  to  investigators  on  this  side  of  the  water,  to  whom  the  publications  in  the 
proceedings  of  English  societies  are  inaccessible,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  find  space 
for  them  in  your  paper.  Your  obedient  servant,  J.  J.  R.  CROES. 


THE  PREVENTION  OF  WASTE  IN  LIVERPOOL  AND  GLASGOW. 

IN  1 88 1  we  addressed  certain  inquiries  to  Mr.  J.  Parry,  engineer  in  charge  of  the 
Rivington  Water-Works,  Liverpool,  on  points  connected  with  the  waste-prevention 
system  employed  there,  and  have  received  the  following  reply  : 

MUNICIPAL  OFFICES,         ) 
LIVERPOOL,  October  10,  1881.  } 
To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

In  answer  to  your  inquiries  I  have  much  pleasure  in  furnishing  you  with  the  fol- 
lowing information  with  respect  to  the  Liverpool  water-supply. 

The  number  of  inhabited  houses  supplied  with  water  from  the  works  of  the  Cor- 
poration is  122,673,  and  the  number  of  inhabitants  is  725,000.  The  average  number 
•of  persons  to  each  house  is  therefore  591. 

The  average  rate  of  consumption  for  all  purposes  is  23  (imperial)  gallons  per 
head  per  diem.  This  includes  over  5  gallons  per  head  per  day  for  trade  purposes 
measured  by  meters,  and  about  3  gallons  per  head  per  day  for  public  sanitary  purposes 
and  for  miscellaneous  trade  uses  charged  for  by  assessment  and  not  sold  by  meter 
measurements,  leaving  about  15  gallons  per  head  per  day  as  the  average  rate  of  con- 
sumption for  domestic  purposes,  shops,  offices,  hotels,  public  houses,  warehouses,  pub- 
lic buildings,  and  all  waste. 

The  water  is  constantly  laid  on  at  a  pressure  sufficient  to  reach  the  top  of  every 
house  in  the  district,  and  to  enable  fires  to  be  extinguished  by  means  of  hose  attached 
to  hydrants  fixed  on  the  mains,  and  without  the  intervention  of  fire-engines.  Along 
the  line  of  docks,  jets  of  water  can  be  thrown  from  the  fire-hydrants  to  a  height  of  80 
feet  above  the  street  levels. 

There  is  probably  no  modern  city  in  which  the  legitimate  demands  for  water  and 
the  facilities  for  using  it  are  greater  than  in  Liverpool.  Water-closets  are  general  ; 
private  fixed  baths  are  common  ;  and  for  many  years  it  has  been  the  practice  to  put 
fixed  baths  in  all  new  houses  exceeding  about  ;£i8  in  annual  value  ;  public  baths  and 
wash-houses  are  provided  to  a  larger  extent  than  in  any  other  city  in  the  country  ;  there 
is  a  considerable  demand  for  the  supply  of  ships  frequenting  the  port  ;  public  drinking- 
fountains  are  numerous  ;  and  water  is  freely  used  in  flushing  sewers  and  drains,  and 
in  street-sprinkling. 

No  extra  charge  is  made  for  supplying  water  to  water-closets  or  private  baths. 

In  reply  to  your  question  as  to  the  work  done  by  the  waste-water  inspectors,  I 
have  to  state  that  the  number  of  first  inspections  for  waste  (that  is,  exclusive  of  exam- 
inations) made  during  our  last  statistical  year  (ended  on  the  31  st  day  of  December,  1880) 
was  115,602  ;  and  the  number  of  leakages  discovered  fron*~4efectHte^cpcks,  cisterns 


50  APPENDIX. 

and  pipes  was  29,521,  of  which  7,779  were  repaired  by  the  inspectors,  free  of  charge, 
in  the  course  of  their  visits. 

The  number  of  fittings  that  passed  through  our  Testing  and  Stamping  Depart- 
ment was  83,613,  of  which  the  testing  officers  stamped  7 1,969,  the  remaining  11,644 
being  rejected  in  consequence  of  defects  revealed  by  the  tests  applied. 

Concerning  our  system  of  waste-prevention,  I  cannot  do  better  than  to  refer  you  to 
pp.  149-153  of  my  little  book  on  water,  of  which  you  have  a  copy. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  faithfully,  J.  PARRY. 

In  addition  to  the  inspection  by  day  and  night,  the  regulation  of  the  fittings 
allowed  to  be  used  plays  an  important  part  in  the  repression  of  waste  in  Liverpool. 

LIVERPOOL   CORPORATION   WATER-WORKS — REGULATIONS. 

4. — All  fittings  used  in  connection  with  a  supply  of  water  must  be  tested  and 
stamped  by  the  duly  authorized  officer  before  being  fixed,  and  the  following  fees  will 
be  charged  : 

Bibb  and  Stop  Taps  2d.  each. 

Ball-Taps        -  _  -  _      3d.     " 

5. — A  set  of  standard  fittings  such  as  have  been  hitherto  approved  as  exhibited  in 
the  Stamping  Office  ;  but  the  engineer  will  give  due  consideration  to  the  claims  of  any 
other  fitting  which  may  be  presented  for  approval,  and  which,  if  considered  satisfactory 
by  the  committee,  will  be  stamped,  the  sample  purchased,  and  placed  among  and 
become  one  of  the  standard  fittings.  Before  any  fitting  is  withdrawn  from  among  the 
approved  samples,  six  months'  notice  will  be  given  to  the  Master  Plumbers'  Associa- 
tion. 

6. — Every  service-pipe  hereafter  laid  or  fixed  below  ground  shall  be  of  lead  ;  and 
every  joint  on  every  lead  pipe,  whether  below  the  ground  or  not,  shall  be  of  the  kind 
called  a  plumbing  or  wiped  joint. 

n. — Pipes  of  any  other  metal  than  lead  shall  only  be  fixed  after  samples  thereof 
have  been  submitted  to  and  approved  by  the  Water  Committee. 

12. — No  pipe  shall  be  laid  through,  in,  or  into  any  sough,  drain,  ash-pit,  manure- 
hole,  or  other  place  from  which,  in  the  event  of  decay  or  injury  to  such  pipe,  the  water 
might  be  liable  to  become  fouled  or  to  escape  without  observation,  or  without  occasion- 
ing the  necessity  for  immediate  repair. 

13. — No  pipe  shall  be  brought  above  the  level  of  the  ground  outside  any  building, 
except  for  the  supply  of  an  outside  tap  in  a  yard,  in  which  case  the  pipe  shall  be  prop- 
erly protected  from  frost  by  brick-work,  or  otherwise,  and  encased  in  felt,  or  other 
non-conducting  material,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  engineer. 

14. — Every  separate  service-pipe  must  be  provided  with  a  stop-cock  and  box, 
which  will  be  fixed  outside  the  private  premises  by,  and,  in  case  of  domestic  supplies 
within  the  city,  at  the  expenses  of  the  Corporation. 

16. — Storage  cisterns  must  be  provided  for  all  domestic  supplies.  Where  there  is 
a  bath  or  hot-water  apparatus,  the  cistern  must  hold  not  less  than  50  gallons  for  each 
house.  In  other  cases,  not  less  than  25  gallons  for  each  house. 

17. — Cisterns  for  the  storage  of  water  (not  including  water-closet  and  urinal  regu- 
lating cisterns)  shall,  if  of  wood,  be  lined  with  lead  of  not  less  than  five  pounds  to  the 
square  foot.  The  iron,  wood,  or  slate  work  shall  be  strong  and  well  put  together,  and 


APPENDIX.  51 

each  cistern  shall  be  provided  with  a  ball-tap,  which  must  be  securely  fixed  to  the  side 
thereof,  and  it  must  be  in  such  a  position  as  not  to  become  submerged  when  the  cis- 
tern is  full,  and  the  level  of  the  water  at  such  time  shall  be  three  inches  below  the  over- 
flow. 

18. — Domestic  boilers,  water-closets,  or  urinals  must  in  all  cases  be  supplied  from 
cisterns.  All  cisterns  for  the  supply  of  water-closets  or  urinals  shall  either  be  on  the 
alternating-valve  principle,  and  so  constructed  as  to  be  capable  of  delivering  two  gal- 
lons at  each  flush,  which  must  be  discharged  within  fifteen  seconds,  or  otherwise  so 
arranged  as  to  produce  the  same  result  in  equally  efficacious  manner ;  but  no  valve 
except  the  ball-cock  shall  at  any  time  have  a  greater  pressure  upon  it  than  that  due  to 
the  head  of  water  in  the  cistern. 

24. — The  pans  or  basins  of  all  water-closets,  not  of  the  trough  kind,  must  be  of  a 
semi-circular  shape,  or  of  such  other  form  as  can  be  most  efficiently  flushed  ;  the  down 
pipe  from  the  cistern  to  the  basin  of  the  closet  must  be  of  not  less  than  i  %  inches  in 
diameter,  except  in  connection  with  pan-closets,  where  the  head  of  water  exceeds  eight 
feet,  when  the  down  pipe  may  be  of  one  inch  diameter.  In  the  case  of  pan-closets,  the 
metal  pan  shall  be  capable  of  bearing  a  weight  of  seven  pounds. 

25. — The  detailed  arrangements  of  all  trough-closets  shall  be  submitted  to  and 
approved  by  the  Engineer  before  such  closets  are  fixed. 

26. — Every  bath  must  be  provided  with  a  well  fitted  and  perfectly  water-tight 
ground  outlet-plug,  with  chain,  complete,  or  such  outlet-tap  as  shall  be  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  the  inlet. 

27. — None  but  screw-down  taps,  incapable  of  being  suddenly  closed,  shall  be 
fixed  on  pipes  supplied  direct  from  the  main. 

28. — Any  stand-pipe  fixed  for  the  use  of  the  occupants  of  more  than  one  house 
must  be  fitted  with  a  self-closing  apparatus  incapable  of  being  suddenly  shut. 

29. — The  Corporation  will  provide  and  fix  all  water-meters  for  the  supply  of 
water  for  trade  purposes,  and  will  also  lay  the  service-pipe  from  the  boundary  of  the 
premises  to  the  inlet  of  the  meter,  and  fix  the  stop-cock  thereon  at  the  expense  of  the 
occupier  of  the  premises. 

30. — No  steam-boiler  or  any  description  of  closed  boiler  will  be  allowed  to  be  sup- 
plied direct  from  a  service-pipe  ;  but  the  supply  will  be  given  through  meter,  and  a 
self-acting  check-valve  must  in  every  case  be  fixed  on  the  pipe  so  as  to  prevent  a  return 
of  the  water. 

31. — Hydrants  for  fire  or  other  purposes  inside  premises  can  only  be  permitted  by 
the  special  sanction  of  the  Water  Committee ,  for  which  application  must  be  made  in 
every  case. 

32. — Before  a  connection  for  the  supply  of  water  can  be  made,  or  before  any  addi- 
tional fittings  can  be  connected  to  an  existing  service-pipe,  the  work  must  be  inspected 
and  approved  by  the  proper  officer  of  the  Corporation. 

33. — Printed  forms  will,  upon  application,  be  furnished  to  plumbers  who  have 
signed  an  agreement  to  conform  to  the  regulations,  which  they  will  be  required  to  fill 
up  and  deliver  at  the  engineer's  offices,  as  notices  of  fittings  being  ready  for  inspec- 
tion, and  also  of  any  alterations  made  in  existing  service-pipes  or  fittings,  and  such 
notices  must  be  given  before  pipes  or  other  fittings  are  covered. 


APPENDIX. 


GLASGOW   CORPORATION  WATER-WORKS. 

Rules  to  be  observed  with  respect  to  the  Supply  of  Water,  and  the  Apparatus 
allowed  to  be  used. 

II. — SERVICE-PIPES. 

5.  Every  house,  in  the  case  of  self-contained  houses,  and  every  tenement,  shall 
have  its  own  separate  service-pipe,  except  in  the  case  of  a  group  or  block  of  houses,  the 
water-rates  for  which  are  paid  by  one  owner,  and  which  are  supplied  by  self-closing 
wells. 

6.  No  house  or  tenement  shall,  unless  with  the  sanction  of  the  engineer,  have 
more  than  one  service-pipe. 

7.  Any  premises  or  portion  of  a  house  or  tenement  occupied  for  trade  purposes 
must  have  a  separate  service-pipe  leading  from  the  pipes  of  the  commissioners  to  the 
premises  or  portion  occupied  by  each  tenant. 

8.  All  the  service-pipes,  unless  otherwise  specially  agreed  upon,  shall  be  of  lead, 
and  of  the  following  weights  per  yard  : 

%-inch  diameter,    7  pounds  per  lineal  yard. 

K-inch        "  10  "  •* 

i-inch  14 

i^-inch        ".         18  "  " 

ij^-inch  24 

Overflow-pipes  may  be  of  lighter  weights. 

9.  When  the  service-pipes  are  allowed  to  be  of  iron,  they  shall  be  of  the  descrip- 
tion, and  laid  and  jointed  in  the  manner  approved  of  by  the  engineer.     They  shall  be 
of  the  foliowing  thickness  and  weight  : 


Diameter  of 
Pipe. 

Thickness 
of  Metal. 

Depth  01" 
socket. 

Length  of 
Pipe, 
exclusive   of 
Socket. 

Mean  Weight  of  each 
Pipe. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Feet.    Inches. 

Cwt.       Qrs.        Lbs. 

4 

H 

3 

9            ° 

i           i             75 

3 

% 

3 

9            o 

i            o              17 

2 

H 

3 

6 

02                       4 

10.  The  point  of  discharge  of  all  pipes  must  be  above  ground,  and  visible  to  the 
occupiers  of  the  house  and  the  commissioners'  inspectors. 

11.  The  service-pipes  must  be  laid  at  least  two  feet  six  inches  below  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  and  if  in  exposed  places  must  be  properly  protected  from  frost. 

12.  The  ferrule  which  connects  lead  service-pipes  with  the  distributing-pipes  of 
the  commissioners  must  be  of  brass,  and  screwed  into  the  iron  pipe.     A  stop-cock  shall 
be  attached  to  the  service-pipe  in  the  street,  at  a  distance  of  about  two  feet  from  the 
distributing-pipe,  with  a  cast-iron  cock-box  supported  upon  brick- work  in  mortar.     It 
is  recommended  that  another  stop-cock,  being  a  screw-down  or  slide-valve  cock,  be  put 
on  the  service-pipe  inside  the  premises,  close  to  the  outside  wall,  in  a  position  easy  of 
.access,  so  that  the  water  can  be  turned  off  in  case  of  frost  or  accident. 

13.  The  joints  on  all  lead  service-pipes  shall  be  "  plumbing  "or  "  wiped  "  joints. 


APPENDIX.  53 

14.  The  connection  with  the  commissioners'  pipes  will  be  made  by  the  commis- 
sioners' workmen,  and  no  other  parties  will  be  allowed  to  open,  shut,  or  in  any  way 
interfere  with  any  of  the  pipes,  valves,  or  apparatus  belonging  to  the  commissioners, 
on  any  pretext  whatever. 

III. — CISTERNS. 

15.  The  supply  of  water  will  be  constantly  laid  on  at  the  greatest  pressure  which 
the  reservoirs  and   works   of    the    commissioners  will    give ;     but    it  is    necessary 
to  have  cisterns  of  sufficient  capacity  for  the  ordinary  domestic  supply  in  all  houses  and 
flats  of  houses  at  a  greater  elevation  than  about  200  feet  above  the  mean  level  of  the  sea 
on  the  north  side  of  the  River  Clyde,  and  150  feet  above  the  sea  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river.     These  elevations  vary  with  the  distance  from  the  reservoirs  from  which  the 
supply  is  drawn  ;    but  all  necessary  information  will  be  given  on  application  at  the 
engineer's  office. 

1 6.  Every  cistern  must  be  made  and  maintained  perfectly  water-tight,   and  be 
provided  with  a  ball-cock,  which  must  be  branched  into  the  inlet-pipe,  and  secured  to 
the  side  of  the  cistern. 

17.  All  cisterns  must  be  placed  in  such  positions  that  they  can  be  easily  inspected, 
and  sufficient  space  must  be  allowed  for  repairs. 

18.  The  top  of  the  waste-pipe  must  be  one  and  a  half  inches  from  the  top  of  the 
cistern,  and  the  ball-cock  so  adjusted  that  it  will  be  shut  when  the  water  is  two  inches 
from  the  top  of  the  waste-pipe,  or  three  and  a  half  inches  from  the  top  of  the  cistern, 
and  so  as  not  to  become  submerged  when  the  cistern  is  full. 

19.  The  overflow-pipe  shall  not  be  joined  to  any  pipe  or  drain,  but  must  have  an 
open  end  brought  to  the  outside  of  the  premises,  above  ground,  at  a  conspicuous  point, 
or  made  to  discharge  overhead  within  the  premises,  that  the  discharge,  when  there  is 
any,  may  be  visible  to  the  occupiers  of  the  house,  or  the  commissioners'  inspectors  or 
the  police,  so  that  waste  of  water  may  be  prevented. 

20.  When  there  is  a  separate  opening  at  the  bottom  of  the  cistern  for  cleansing,  it 
must  have  a  ground  brass  valve. 

21.  All  public  works  to  have  cisterns  of  sufficient  capacity  to  hold  a  few  hours' 
water. 

IV. — TESTING  AND    STAMPING. 

22.  All  the  fittings  used,  including  all  those  supplied  from  cisterns,  and  including 
all  ordinary  kinds  where  the  supply  is  by  meter,  must  conform  to  samples  approved  of 
by  the  engineer,  and  must  be  tested  and  stamped  bjr  the  proper  officer  of  the  commis- 
sioners.    When  a  meter  is  removed  from  any  premises,  all  unstamped  water-fittings 
must  be  also  removed. 

23.  Samples  of  the  fittings  which  have  been  approved  of  may  be  seen  in  the  Test- 
ing and  Stamping  Office,  and  the  engineer  is  prepared  to  receive  and  examine  any 
other  fitting,  and,  if  approved  of,  to  sanction  its  use.     A  general  description  of  the 
fittings  approved  of  is  given  at  the  end  of  these  rules. 

24.  The  following  fees  will  be  charged  for  testing  and  stamping : 

Nose,  stop,  and  tube  cocks zd.  each. 

Bath  and  Lavatory  fittings zd,    " 

Ball-cocks 3^.     " 

Water-closet  cisterns 3*f.     " 

"  "      with  ball-cocks f,d.    " 

Stop-cock  boxes zd.    " 


54  APPENDIX. 

V. — TAPS. 

25.  Screw-down  cocks  only  shall  be  used  when  the  supply  is  from  the  main  service 
pipe,  or  from  a  cistern  on  any  other  than  the  same  floor. 

26.  Where  the  supply  of  water  is  from  a  cistern  on  the  same  floor,  to  baths,  wash- 
hand  basins,  etc.,  loaded  valves,  common  ground  cocks,  or  ground  cocks  with  stuffing- 
boxes  may  be  used.     In  self-contained  houses  these  cocks  may  be  supplied  from  a 
cistern  in  the  flat  above. 

27.  No  common  ground  cock  shall  be  attached  to  the  main  service-pipe,  except  the 
cock  in  the  street. 

28.  Easy  access  for  inspection  shall  be  given  to  all  cocks  attached  to  wash-hand 
basins,  baths,  etc.,  by  means  of  a  hinged  door. 

VI. — WATER-CLOSETS. 

29.  No  water-closet  will  be  allowed  to  be  supplied  direct  from  a  service-pipe,  but 
must  be  supplied  from  a  cistern  on  the  same  flat  as  the  closet,  and  no  water-closet 
shall  be  supplied  by  a  tap  of  any  kind.     In  self-contained  houses  the  lever  and  crank 
may  work  to  a  cistern  in  the  flat  above. 

30.  Every  cistern  for  the  supply  of  a  water-closet  must  be  fitted  with  an  efficient 
waste-preventing  apparatus,  so  constructed  as  not  to  be  capable  of  discharging  more 
than  two  gallons  of  water  at  each  flush,  and  so  that  it  cannot  be  made  to  flow  continu- 
ously either  by  intention  or  neglect.     The  cisterns  must  contain  from  five  to  eight 
flushes  in  all  places  where  the  supply  of  water  is  not  constant. 

31.  The  cisterns  supplying  all  pan-closets  must  have  a  proper  service-box  attached. 

VII. — URINALS. 

32.  Every  urinal  must  be  supplied  from  a  cistern,  which  must  be  fitted  with  a 
waste-preventing  apparatus  similar  to  that   above    described    for  water-closets,   so 
constructed  as  not  to  be  capable  of  discharging  more  than  one-half  gallon  of  water  at 
each  flush,  or  supplied  by  a  cock  similarly  constructed. 

VIII. — BATHS   AND   WASH-HAND    BASINS. 

33.  Every  plunge-bath  and  wash-hand  basin  shall  be  so  constructed  that  the  water 
shall  flow  in  above  the  bottom,  and  be  discharged  from  the  bottom. 

IX.— WELLS  IN   COURTS. 

34.  All  water-taps  in  courts  and  closes,  and  on  common  stairs,  to  be  self-closing, 
secured  in  an  iron  case,  and  properly  protected  from  injury,  and  so  arranged  that  they 
cannot  be  left  in  such  a  position  that  the  water  will  continue  to  run. 

x. — BOILERS. 

35.  No  boiler  for  generating  steam  shall  be  supplied  with  water  by  a  direct  con- 
nection with  the  service-pipe.     Every  such  boiler  must  be  supplied  from  a  cistern 
either  by  a  common  feed-pump  or  an  injector. 

XI.  —METERS. 

36.  Application  for  a  supply  of  water  by  meter  must  be  made  on  the  printed  form 
prepared  for  the  purpose,  and  which  can  be  obtained  on  application  at  the  engineer's 
office. 


APPENDIX  55 

37.  All  meters  will  be  supplied  by  the  commissioners,  and  a  rent  will  be  charged 
for  the  same,  which  will  include  all  repairs,  except  damage  by  frost,  or  fire,  or  by  the 
working  of  any  engine  propelled  by  the  water.     The  position  of  the  meter,  and  the  line 
of  the  service-pipe  leading  to  it,  must  be  the  subject  of  special  agreement  with  the 
engineer. 

38.  Where  the  communication-pipes  are  of  cast-iron,  the  commissioners  will  provide 
all  materials,  and  execute  all  the  work  necessary  in  introducing  the  water  into  the 
premises,  up  to  and  including  the  fixing  of  the  meter,  and  the  whole  cost  thereof  shall 
be  payable  by  the  consumer. 

XII. — WATER-ENGINES. 

3Q.  Air-vessels  of  such  dimensions  as  may  be  approved  of  by  the  engineer  shall  be 
attached  to  all  water-engines. 

XIII. — WATERING-TROUGHS. 

40.  All  watering-troughs  for  cattle  to  be  of  cast-iron,  and  fitted  with  a  proper 
ball-cock  in  a  covered  division  of  the  trough. 

XIV. — ALTERATIONS    ON   WATER-FITTINGS. 

41.  Notice  must  be  given  to  the  engineer,  in  the  form  referred  to  in  Rule  2,  of  the 
intention  to  make  any  alteration  upon  the  existing  service-pipes  in  any  premises,  or 
upon  any  apparatus  connected  therewith,  or  of  the  intention  to  fit  up  any  new  service- 
pipes  or  apparatus,  that  the  same  may  be  inspected  by  the  proper  officers  of  the  commis- 
sioners, and  consent  given  for  the  intended  alterations  ;  and  such  alterations  must  be 
in  accordance  with  these  rules,  and  the  new  fittings  must  be  stamped. 

42.  If  any  lead  service-pipe  is  less  than  the  weight  given  in  Rule  8,  and  is  found 
out  of  repair  and  wasting  water  twice  within  six  months,  the  whole  of  the  same,  so  far 
as  it  is  underground  or  in  unoccupied  cellars,  must  be  removed  and  replaced  by  pipe  of 
the  proper  weight. 

Section  43  provides  that  defective  valves,  taps,  and  worn-out  fittings  shall  be 
replaced  by  approved  apparatus. 

44.  If  any  tap  in  a  court  or  close,  or  on  a  common  stair,  or  at  a  urinal,  be  found 
open  and  wasting  water  twice  within  three  months,  though  it  may  not  waste  water 
when  properly  shut,  the  same  must  be  removed,  and  replaced  by  a  self-closing  cock. 

XV. — WASTE   OF   WATER. 

45.  Information  of  any  continued  rushing  sound  heard  in  a  house  should  at  once 
be  sent  to  the  Water  Office,  or  communicated  to  the  engineer ;    and  all  persons  are 
requested  to  give  timely  information  of  any  leakage  or  waste  of  water,  whether  the 
same  be  accidentally,  negligently,  or  willfully  occasioned  or  suffered. 

JAMES  M.  GALE,  Engineer. 
WATER-WORKS  OFFICE,  ) 

23  MILLER  STREET,  GLASGOW,  4th  November,  1879.  f 


WATER   MAY   BE   CUT   OFF   OR   TURNED  OFF  UNDER  THE  FOLLOWING  CIRCUMSTANCES. 

For  default  in  payment  of  water-rates.  (The  Water- Works  Clauses  Act,  1847, 
Sec.  74.) 

For  not  providing  a  proper  cistern  and  ball-cock  when  required,  or  for  not  keeping 
the  same  in  good  repair,  in  districts  where  the  water  is  not  constantly  laid  on  under 
pressure.  (The  Water-Works  Clauses  Act,  1847,  Sec.  54.) 


APPENDIX. 


For  refusing  the  officers  of  the  commissioners  admittance  into  dwelling-houses,  or 
other  premises,  between  the  hours  of  9  A.  M.  and  4  p.  M.,  for  the  purpose  of  examining 
if  there  be  any  waste  or  misuse  of  water.     (The  Water-Works  Clauses  Act    1847 
Sec.  57-) 

For  not  having  all  cisterns,  closets,  soil-pans,  and  baths,  so  constructed  and  used 
as  effectually  to  prevent  waste,  misuse,  or  undue  consumption  of  water.  (The  Glasgow 
Corporation  Water- Works  Act,  1855,  Sec.  85.) 

For  wrongfully  doing  anything  in  contravention  of  the  Glasgow  Corporation  Water- 
Works  Acts,  or  for  failing  to  do  anything  in  those  acts  provided  for  the  prevention 
of  waste,  misuse,  undue  consumption,  or  contamination  of  the  water.  (The  Water- 
Works  Clauses  Act,  1863,  Sec.  16.) 

If  the  apparatus  in  any  house  or  premises  be  out  of  repair,  or  be  so  used  or  con- 
trived that  the  water  is,  or  is  likely  to  be,  wasted,  misused,  unduly  consumed,  or 
contaminated.  (The  Glasgow  Corporation  Water- Works  Act,  1847,  Sec.  9.) 


PENALTIES   WILL   BE   EXACTED   FOR   THE   FOLLOWING   OFFENSES. 

For  suffering  any  cistern,  pipe,  ball  or  stop  cock  to  be  out  of  repair,  so  that  water 
is  wasted.  (The  Water-Works  Clauses  Act,  1847,  Sec.  55.) 

For  supplying  or  willfully  permitting  any  person  to  take  water  who  does  not  make 
an  agreement  with  the  commissioners.  (The  Water- Works  Clauses  Act,  1847,  Sec.  58.) 

For  taking  water  without  agreement.  (The  Water- Works  Clauses  Act,  1847,  Sec. 
59  ;  and  the  Water- Works  Clauses  Act,  1863,  Sec.  20.) 

For  breaking  or  injuring  any  lock,  cock,  valve,  pipe,  work,  or  engine  belonging  to- 
the  commissioners,  or  for  drawing  off  the  water  from  any  reservoir  or  pipe  belonging  to 
the  commissioners.  (The  Water- Works  Clauses  Act,  1847,  Sec.  60.) 

For  willfully  or  negligently  suffering  any  pipe,  valve,  cock,  cistern,  bath,  soil-pan, 
water-closet,  or  other  apparatus  to  be  out  of  repair  and  wasting,  or  likely  to  waste, 
water.  (The  Water-Works  Clauses  Act,  1863,  Sec.  17.) 

For  using  water  for  other  purposes  than  those  agreed  upon.  (The  Water- 
Works  Clauses  Act,  1863,  Sec.  18.) 

For  fixing  any  pipe  or  apparatus  to  the  pipes  belonging  to  the  commissioners,  or 
to  a  service-pipe  belonging  to  any  other  person  ;  or  for  making  any  alteration  in  any 
such  service-pipe  or  apparatus  without  the  consent  of  the  commissioners.  (The  Water- 
Works  Clauses  Act,  1863,  Sec.  19.) 


GENERAL  DESCRIPTION   OF  WATER-FITTINGS. 

The  taps  must  not  be  less  than  of  the  following  weights  and  dimensions 


SIZE   OF   TAP. 


%-inch. 

%-inch. 

fg-inch. 

^-inch. 

i-inch. 

Screw-down  loose-valve  nose-cocks  &  stop-cocks. 
Diaphragm  nose-cocks  and  stop-cocks  

9^  ozs. 
ioK    " 

"/!  " 

I2j^  OZS. 

i4K  - 

16^  ozs. 
18       " 
i%lA    " 

21       OZS. 

UK  :: 

35     ozs. 

39 

Screw-down  loose-valve  tube-cocks  

28K   " 

Outside  diameter  of  tube  

T6  *n' 

Underground  stop-cocks,  weight 

24%  ozs. 

•3  e.      ozs. 

54     ozs» 

Length  of  cocks  

5^  ins. 

5%  ins. 

6#  ins. 

Ferrules,  weight  

8     ozs. 

14%  ozs. 

Number  of  threads  of  screw  to  the  inch    . 

28  Ibs 

APPENDIX.  57 

All  taps  must  have  the  maker's  name  stamped  upon  them. 

The  spindles  of  all  screw-down  loose-valve  cocks,  the  screws  of  all  diaphragm- 
cocks,  and  the  keys  of  all  tube-cocks  and  underground  stop-cocks  must  be  of  gun- 
metal. 

The  keys  of  underground  stop-cocks  to  be  cast  solid. 

All  taps  must  be  capable  of  resisting  a  pressure  of  300  pounds  on  the  square  inch, 
to  which  they  will  be  subjected  in  testing. 

All  ball-cocks  must  remain  tight  under  a  pressure  of  150  pounds  on  the  square 
inch  with  the  ball  half  immersed. 

All  screws  to  be  large  and  well  cut,  and  the  key  and  barrel  of  tube-cocks  and  stop- 
cocks properly  ground. 

In  tube-cocks  a  passage  for  the  water  to  be  cut  round  the  key,  so  that  the  raising 
or  lowering  of  the  tube  will  not  affect  the  flow  of  the  water. 

The  screws  of  the  ferrules  to  be  made  to  the  gauges  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
Testing  and  Stamping  Office. 


Extract  from  "  The  Glasgow  Corporation  Water-Works  Amendment  Act,  1859  ": 

SECTION  17.  All  the  apparatus  used  or  to  be  used  for  conveying  water  to  the 
houses  of  the  inhabitants  and  manufactories,  or  other  premises  supplied  or  to  be 
supplied  with  water  under  the  provisions  of  the  recited  act,  shall  be  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  engineer  to  the  commissioners  ;  and  in  case  of  dispute  between  the 
parties  providing  such  apparatus  and  such  engineer,  such  dispute  shall  be  determined 
by  the  Water  Committee  of  the  Commissioners,  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 


CISTERN  versus  VALVE  SUPPLY  FOR  WATER-CLOSETS. 

IN  the  early  part  of  April,  1882,  there  was  considerable  controversy  over  the  regu- 
lations adopted  by  the  New  York  Board  of  Health  under  the  plumbing  law  requiring 
that  in  new  work  water-closets  should  be  supplied  from  cisterns  instead  of  direct  from 
the  service-pipes  to  the  valves  attached  to  the  closets.  During  the  controversy,  Prof. 
Charles  F.  Chandler,  then  President  of  the  Board  of  Health,  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

HEALTH  DEPARTMENT,  No.  301  MOTT  STREET,  / 
NEW  YORK,  March  25,  1882.  j" 

The  Board  of  Health  of  this  city  have  been  urged  to  modify  Rule  12  of  the  Plan 
of  Plumbing  and  Drainage  adopted  by  them,  to  the  extent  that  water  for  flushing  may 
be  taken  from  drinking-water  mains,  or  from  tanks  containing  drinking-water,  direct 
to  a  valve  on  the  water-closet ;  the  tank  to  be  dispensed  with  if  a  check- valve  be  placed 
on  the  pipe  connected  with  the  supply-valve. 

That  part  of  Rule  12  affected  by  the  modification  is  as  follows  : 
1 '  All  water-closets  inside  the  house  must  be  supplied  with  water  from  a  special 
tank  or  cistern,  the  water  of  which  is  not  used  for  any  other  purpose.     The  closets 
must  never  be  supplied  directly  from  the  Croton  supply-pipes.     A  group  of  closets  may 
be  supplied  from  one  tank,  if  on  the  same  floor  and  contiguous." 


58  APPENDIX. 

It  is  held  that  the  taking  of  water  for  flushing  water-closets  from  special  cisterns 
is  a  needless  expense,  and  that  no  adequate  advantage  to  the  occupants  of  houses  is 
gained,  and  that  it  is  a  hardship  to  manufacturers  who  make  valve-closets,  which  are 
intended  to  be  used  without  cisterns. 

The  correspondence  on  the  subject  thus  far  received  is  sent  to  you  with  the 
request  that  you  will  give  space  in  your  columns  to  make  it  public.  It  is  hoped  that 
the  opinions  of  your  readers,  as  well  as  your  own,  will  be  given  concerning  the  pro- 
priety of  modifying  the  rule  as  suggested.  It  is  the  desire  of  the  board  that  these 
suggestions  should  be  discussed  in  all  their  bearings.  They  further  desire  to  state  that 
they  wish  to  insist  on  no  requirement  that  they  can  be  convinced  is  unnecessary. 

Yours  very  truly,  C.  F.  CHANDLER,  President. 

This  brought  out  a  large  number  of  responses  sustaining  the  action  of  the  Board. 
A  few  of  the  letters  from  water-works  engineers  who  years  ago  went  through 
the  struggle  that  efficient  water-works  managers  in  this  country  are  now  carrying  on 
against  public  ignorance  and  misapprehension,  and  others  which  are  pertinent,  in 
connection  with  the  consideration  of  the  causes  of  water-waste,  are  republished  here, 
in  addition  to  the  regulations  of  several  cities  where  the  inspection  and  testing  of 
plumbing  and  fittings  has  secured  very  good  results,  which  are  given  on  previous  pages. 
The  regulations  of  these  cities  are  printed  not  because  the  details  are  applicable  in 
every  instance  to  conditions  of  American  cities,  but  because  they  will  indicate  what 
other  communities  have  adopted  with  very  great  profit  to  themselves,  and  which  would 
be  a  guide  in  adopting  regulations  in  cities  of  this  country.  So  far  as  the  cocks  and 
waste-preventing  cisterns  that  are  required  as  a  standard  in  the  cities  possessing  the 
best  managed  water-works  in  Great  Britain  are  concerned,  they  are,  every  one  of  them, 
in  all  their  essential  details,  public  property,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suspect  that  the 
authorities  of  any  of  the  cities  in  this  country  would  exercise  their  discretion  by 
compelling  the  consumer  to  adopt  any  particular  fitting  or  appliance  or  method  of 
doing  work  which  would  result  in  fostering  a  monopoly. 


MR.  JOSEPH  P.  DAVIS,  who  was  City  Engineer  of  the  city  of  Boston  from  1872 
to  1880,  wrote  as  follows  t 

To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

SIR  :  The  New  York  Board  of  Health  asks,  through  your  columns,  for  the  opinions 
of  your  readers  concerning  the  propriety  of  modifying  Rule  12  of  the  Plan  of  Plumbing 
and  Drainage,  adopted  by  it.  The  matter  is  one  of  such  great  interest  that  I  venture 
to  offer  my  views. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  the  alteration  suggested  would  result  in  evil ;  it  certainly 
would  not  effect  an  improvement. 

'  ''  Nearly  all  the  large  cities  of  the  country  are  suffering  in  various  ways,  and  are  put 
to  enormous  expense  on  account  of  the  great  waste  of  water  that. is  occasioned  by 
defective  plumbing  and  the  use  of  improper  fixtures.  A  very  large  percentage  of  the 
entire  waste  (which  in  many  cities  is  at  least  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  water-supply) 


APPENDIX.  59 

is  due  to  the  use  of  valve  water-closets.  This  consideration  alone  should  prevent  the 
board  from  modifying  the  rule  in  the  manner  suggested,  but  there  are  also  strong 
reasons  against  it  from  a  sanitary  point  of  view. 

Check-valves  serve  many  excellent  purposes,  but  they  are  not  certain  enough  in 
their  action  to  be  relied  upon  as  safeguards  to  health.  When  once  placed  in  a  supply- 
pipe  they  are  out  of  sight  and  out  of  mind  ;  their  failure  to  act  would  only  be  discov- 
ered after  the  injury  was  done — perhaps  health  impaired  or  a  life  sacrificed. 

In  New  York  the  danger  of  back-flow  is  greater  than  in  most  cities  on  account  of 
the  inadequate  and  varying  pressure  of  the  water-supply,  which  leaves  the  pipes  in  the 
upper  parts  of  the  buildings  empty,  and  at  some  points  and  seasons  admits  of  draught 
during  the  morning  hours  in  basements  only.  From  this  arises  another  danger,  which, 
under  many  conditions,  will  be  obviated  or  mitigated  by  the  use  of  tank-closets — 
namely,  at  the  time  the  closet  is  used  there  may  not  be  sufficient  pressure  in  the  pipes 
to  cause  a  flush,  and  the  proper  cleansing  will  be  apt  to  be  neglected.  A  tank  would 
serve  as  a  reservoir  ;  it  would  fill  when  the  draught  of  water  was  least,  and,  therefore, 
the  pressure  in  the  pipes  the  greatest,  and  would  furnish  the  necessary  flush  for  the 
closet  when  the  pressure  was  low.  JOSEPH  P.  DAVIS. 


VORKS,          ) 

STREET,      >• 

ril  18,  1882.  ) 


MR.  JAMES  M.  GALE,  the  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Glasgow  Water-Works,  wrote 

thus  : 

CORPORATION  WATER-WORKS, 
ENGINEER'S  OFFICE,  23  MILLER 

GLASGOW,  April 
To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

SIR  :  I  observe,  in  your  issue  of  the  3Oth  of  March  last,  that  the  question  of  the 
supply  of  water  to  water-closets  direct  from  the  main  service-pipe  has  been  raised  by 
the  master  plumbers  of  your  city,  and  that  you  invite  a  discussion  in  your  columns. 

So  convinced  was  I  that  the  system  was  a  bad  one,  and  was  the  cause  of  a  great 
waste  of  water,  that  more  than  twenty  years  ago  I  induced  the  Water  Commissioners 
of  this  city  to  prohibit  the  further  use  of  apparatus  of  that  kind.  During  these  years 
we  have  required  every  water-closet  to  be  supplied  from  a  cistern  on  the  same  flat  as 
the  closet,  and  that  every  such  cistern  shall  be  fitted  with  an  apparatus  of  such  a 
construction  that  the  water  cannot  be  made  to  flow  continuously,  either  by  intention  or 
neglect.  My  experience  during  the  twenty  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  issuing  of 
the  order  has  strengthened  my  conviction  that  it  is  a  just  and  proper  one. 

The  objections  to  a  supply  to  a  water-closet  being  drawn  direct  from  the  main 
service-pipe  may  be  stated  as  follows  : 

First — The  leather  or  other  facing  of  the  valve  does  not  remain  water-tight  for  a, 
considerable  length  of  time  under  the  rough  usage  that  a  water-closet  handle  usually 
gets. 

Second — The  escape  of  water,  when  there  is  any,  is  not  considered  by  the  occupiers 
of  houses  as  at  all  objectionable,  as  it  passes  through  the  basin,  and  appears  to  them 
as  assisting  in  keeping  the  drains  clean. 

Third—  If  the  handle  is  propped  up,  under  a  mistaken  idea  that  the  drains  may 
thereby  be  kept  clear,  the  water  runs  to  waste  continuously  in  large  volume. 

Fourth — The  system  can  only  be  applied  where  the  water-supply  is  constant  during 
the  busy  hours  of  the  day,  and  at  the  particular  level  at  which  the  water-closet  may  be 
placed. 


60  APPENDIX. 

Fifth — In  the  event  of  any  repairs  being  required  which  require  the  water  to  be 
shut  off  from  the  main,  even  for  a  short  time,  no  water  can  be  got  to  flush  the  closet, 
which  then  becomes  a  source  of  danger  to  health. 

Sixth — On  such  an  occasion,  whatever  foul  air  there  may  be  in  the  basin  will  be 
sucked  into  the  main,  and,  it  may  be,  some  highly  objectionable  matter  as  well. 

It  may  be,  though  I  do  not  admit  it,  that  the  ball-cock  of  a  cistern  is  as  likely  to 
leak  as  the  valve  of  a  water-closet  supplied  off  the  main,  but  in  the  case  of  the  cistern 
there  is  no  chance  of  foul  air  or  improper  matter  being  sucked  into  the  mains  ;  and 
there  we  require  that  the  overflow  from  every  cistern  must  discharge  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  attention  of  the  occupiers  of  the  house  may  be  drawn  to  the  fact.  We  have  a 
large  number  of  these  valve-closets  still  in  use  in  Glasgow,  but  we  are  insisting  upon 
their  being  gradually  removed.  If  our  inspectors  find  one  of  them  wasting  water  twice 
within  three  months,  we  then  issue  an  order  for  its  being  taken  out,  and  apparatus  with 
a  cistern  attached  substituted.  I  have  no  faith  whatever  in  the  so-called  check-valves, 
as  my  experience  of  these  is  that  they  are  generally  found  to  be  out  of  order  when  they 
are  wanted  to  act. 

I  cannot  see  why  the  plumbers  in  any  city  should  have  a  preference  for  any  specific 
class  of  water-fittings.  If,  by  a  proper  system  of  inspection,  they  are  all  required  to 
use  the  same  class  of  fittings,  no  one  can  have  any  advantage  over  the  other.  Their 
object  should  rather  be  to  have  the  most  expensive  and  the  strongest  articles  intro- 
duced into  all  the  houses  they  fit  up,  as  upon  these  they  will  most  probably  have  a 
larger  profit  than  upon  cheaper  fittings.  I  can  understand  why  a  plumber,  or  any 
other  man  who  has  a  patent,  tries  to  push  the  sale  of  his  patented  article  ;  but  it  is- 
against  the  interested  efforts  of  such  men  that  officials  are  appointed  to  protect  the 
public. 

The  consumption  of  water  in  your  city  is  so  high  already  as  to  attract  our  attention 
here,  and  if  you  introduce  valve-closets  it  is  certain  to  go  higher  still. 

I  inclose  a  copy  of  our  rules  as  regards  water-fittings,  and  you  may  make  any  use 
you  please  of  them.  I  am,  sir,  Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES'M.  GALE,  M.  Inst.  C.  E. 


IEAD,  x 
582.      ) 


DR.  FRANCIS  VACHER,  the  Medical  Officer  of  Health  of  Birkenhead,  England, 

wrote  thus  : 

MEDICAL  OFFICER'S  DEPARTMENT. 
MUNICIPAL  OFFICES,  BIRKENHEAD, 

April  19,  1882. 
To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

SIR:  I  have  read  with  interest  the  controversy  under  the  heading,  "Cisterns. 
Valve  Supply,"  and  have  pleasure  in  adding  my  testimony  to  the  wisdom  of  Rule  12. 

The  Sanitary  Authority  I  serve  requires  that  ' '  no  water  shall  be  supplied  direct  from 
the  main  of  the  Corporation  to  any  water-closet,  but  ijiust  in  all  cases  be  supplied  by 
a  waste-water  preventer  cistern,  as  provided  in  Regulation  10." 

And  under  Regulation  10,  that  "every  water-closet  shall  be  supplied  by  a  waste- 
water  preventer  cistern,  double-valve,  to  discharge  not  more  than  two  gallons  at  each 
flush,  such  as  Guest  &  Chrimes',  Lambert's,  Ashcroft's,  Anderson's,  or  other 
approved  kind,  and  the  delivery-pipe  from  the  cistern  to  the  closet-pan  shall  not  be  less 
than  i^-inch  internal  diameter." 


APPENDIX.  6l 

These  regulations  were  passed  in  1879,  and  previous  to  this  I  had  frequent  occa- 
sion to  draw  attention  to  the  terrible  risk  incurred  in  flushing-cisterns  from  drinking- 
water  mains.  In  this  way,  to  my  knowledge,  fouling  of  drinking-water  has  actually 
taken  place.  Having  one  large  cistern  for  the  supply  of  a  closet  and  for  general 
purposes  is  also  objectionable,  and  not  without  danger  to  health. 

Doubtless  a  check- valve  often  does  its  work  well,  but  it  is  unsafe  to  rely  upon  it, 
and  not  possible  to  injure  its  working  efficiently  even  for  a  limited  period.  The  coin- 
cident opening  of  a  water-closet  and  the  drawing  of  water  below  it  in  the  house  is  not 
by  any  means  merely  a  remote  possibility  (as  one  of  your  correspondents  writes),  but  in 
some  houses  an  almost  daily  occurence.  I  am,  sir,  yours  truly, 

FRANCIS  VACHER. 


IN  1 88 1,  we  explained  to  Mr.  Parry,  engineer  in  charge  of  Liverpool  Water- 
Works,  what  was  meant  by  valve-closets  in  this  country,  the  term  in  England  having  a 
different  signification,  and  there  designating  a  closet  of  the  Bramah  type  as  distinct 
from  the  hopper,  pan,  or  plunger  closets.  The  following  was  his  reply,  which  bears 
on  the  question  at  issue  : 

LIVERPOOL  WATER-WORKS,  November  19,  1881. 

Water-closet  apparatus  of  the  kind  described  in  your  inquiry  were  allowed  in 
Liverpool  many  years  ago,  but  they  were  found  to  be  so  wasteful,  and  so  objectionable 
on  sanitary  grounds,  that  their  use  has  long  been  interdicted.  So  far  as  I  know  there 
are  none  of  the  apparatus  in  use  here  now. 

Instances  have  come  under  my  notice  in  which  the  consumption  of  water  in  build 
ings  has  been  reduced  from  sixty  gallons  per  head  per  day  to  three  gallons  per  head 
per  day  by  simply  improving  the  character  of  the  water-closet  and  urinal  flushing 
arrangements. 

In  water-close  Led  towns  the  legitimate  consumption  is  higher  by  about  twenty  per 
<:ent.  than  in  towns  where  water-closets  are  not  common.  The  waste  which  they 
occasion  in  the  absence  of  proper  regulations  is  very  great,  and  from  the  information 
you  have  given  me  concerning  the  New  York  closets,  I  conclude  that  they  are  respon- 
sible for  a  large  proportion  of  your  extravagant  consumption  of  water.  New  York  has 
the  benefit  of  all  the  experience  gained  by  the  large  cities  of  this  country,  and  if  your 
authorities  arejn  earnest  they  will  have  no  difficulty  in  effecting  such  a  diminution  in 
the  waste  as  will  remove  any  danger  of  a  water  famine  for  several  years. 

For  the  flushing  of  water-closets,  all  intricate  and  elaborate  appliances  are  to  be 
avoided.  The  most  simple  and  useful  contrivance  is  the  double-valve  cistern,  with  the 
working  parts  in  brass,  or  brass  bushed,  and  a  good  ball-cock,  with  a  down  pipe  of  not 
less  than  one  and  one-quarter  inches  diameter,  from  a  chamber  holding  two  gallons  ; 
this  gives  a  flush  which  thoroughly  cleanses  the  basin,  and  effectually  carries  all  filth 
through  the  soil-pipe  into  the  sewer. 

In  New  York,  economy  of  water  is  not  the  only  reason  for  urging  the  adoption  of 
proper  fittings.  There  are  serious  sanitary  considerations  involved.  If  water-closets 
are  in  direct  connection  with  the  public  mains,  without  the  intervention  of  cisterns, 
the  water-supply  is  liable  to  pollution  by  foul  gases. 

If  your  authorities  entertain  any  doubt  as  to  the  sources  of  waste  or  the  remedies 
required,  let  them  select  for  experiment  a  representative  district,  comprising  four  or 


62  APPENDIX. 

five  hundred  houses,  and  without  giving  any  intimation  to  the  inhabitants,  measure 
the  volume  of  water  flowing  into  it  for  two  or  three  weeks.  An  approximate  estimate 
may  then  be  formed  of  the  rate  of  consumption  with  existing  fittings.  Let  the  houses 
then  be  examined,  all  wasteful  fittings  removed,  approved  fittings  substituted,  and  all 
underground  leakage  stopped.  The  effect  of  these  measures  upon  the  consumption  in 
the  district  having  been  ascertained,  data  will  be  afforded  by  means  of  which  the  result 
of  adopting  similar  measures  throughout  the  city  can  be  calculated. 

I  am,  yours  truly,  JOSEPH  PARRY. 


PROFESSOR  HENRY  ROBINSON,  C.  E.,  of  London,  contributed  this  valuable  note  : 

One  of  the  most  fruitful  causes  of  waste  of  water  in  houses  has  been  found  to 
arise  from  the  direct  flushing  of  the  closets  from  the  water-pipes.  The  rule  in  England 
is  to  prohibit  this,  and  to  require  the  insertion  of  a  small  service-box  supplied  by  the 
service-pipe,  and  containing  about  two  gallons  of  water.  This  being  in  direct  com- 
munication with  the  valve  of  the  closet,  prevents  more  than  a  regulated  amount  of 
water  being  used  at  each  flush  of  the  closet.  It  has  been  found  in  practice  that, 
without  such  an  arrangement  as  this,  enormous  waste  arises,  and  it  cannot  be  too- 
strongly  urged  on  those  who  have  to  advise  in  the  regulation  of  water-supply  in  large 
towns  to  adopt  the  most  stringent  rule  on  this  point.  Besides  the  prevention  of  waste, 
the  introduction  of  such  an  appliance  as  the  service-box  reduces  the  pressure  to  a 
uniform  head,  which  would  not  be  the  case  were  the  flush  to  be  taken  direct  from  the 
service-pipe,  and  beyond  this  it  is  found  that  any  leakage  in  connection  with  a  service- 
box  is  attended  with  inconvenience  to  the  householder,  and  this  results  in  its  prompt 
rectification,  whereas  a  leak  direct  into  the  closet  might  continue  without  inconven- 
ience to  the  inhabitants,  but  with  a  certain  loss  to  the  water  company. 

Glasgow  may  be  quoted  as  a  town  where  excellent  rules  are  in  force.  The  regu- 
lations here  are  that  no  water-closet  is  to  be  supplied  direct  from  a  service-pipe,  but 
must  be  supplied  from  a  cistern  on  the  same  flat  as  the  closet,  and  no  water-closet  is 
to  be  supplied  by  a  tap  of  any  kind.  Also  that  every  cistern  for  the  supply  of  a 
water-closet  must  be  fitted  with  an  efficient  waste-preventing  apparatus,  so  constructed 
as  not  to  be  capable  of  discharging  more  than  two  gallons  of  water  at  each  flush,  and 
so  that  it  cannot  be  made  to  flow  continuously,  either  by  intention  or  neglect.  It  is 
further  required  that  the  cistern  must  contain  from  five  to  eight  flushes  in  all  places 
where  the  supply  of  water  is  not  constant.  Also  that  the  cisterns  supplying  all  pan- 
closets  must  have  a  proper  service-box  attached. 

Leeds  is  another  large  town  which  may  be  referred  to.  Here  the  regulation  is  as 
follows  :  ' '  Every  water-closet  has  to  be  provided  with  a  service-cistern  of  lead  or  cast- 
iron,  with  a  ball-cock  attached  thereto,  and  every  such  service-cistern  has  also  to  be 
provided  with  a  proper  double-valve  waste-preventer  ;  and  every  such  valve  or  valves 
has  to  be  so  arranged  as  to  let  down  at  each  pull  or  lift  of  the  valves  a  quantity  of 
water  not  exceeding  two  gallons.  Also,  that  no  pipe  by  which  water  is  supplied  to  any 
water-closet  is  permitted  to  communicate,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  part  of  such 
water-closet,  or  with  any  apparatus  connected  therewith,  except  the  service-cistern 
thereof."  In  London,  also,  the  water  companies  have  strict  rules  requiring  the  use  of 
waste-water  preventers. 

The  above  regulations  may  be  regarded  as  being  the  outcome  of  the  practical 
experience  of  English  water  engineers.  In  the  water-works  with  which  we  are  con- 


APPENDIX.  63 

nected  we  have  similar  rules,  and  require  them  to  be  rigidly  enforced.  We  do  not 
consider  that  any  alternative,  such  as  specially  devised  valves,  however  ingenious, 
ought  to  be  introduced.  There  exists  a  great  amount  of  recorded  experience  in 
England,  all  pointing  to  the  same  conclusion,  and  all  indicating  the  saving  that  has 
been  effected  by  putting  into  force  such  rules  as  have  been  given. 


THE  following  extract  from  the  report  for  1879  of  the  Water  Registrar  of 
Boston,  Mr.  W.  F.  Davis,  certainly  gives  good  reasons  for  making  the  tax  on  these 
fixtures  practically  prohibitory  : 

"The  permanent,  serious,  and  continual  causes  of  waste  of  Cochituate  water 
are  through  the  use  of  hopper  water-closets  ;  the  so-called  self-acting  closets  ;  urinals 
which  are  constructed  for  a  continual  run  of  water  ;  the  use  of  hand-hose  for  the  pur- 
pose of  irrigation  ;  bad  plumbing  materials  and  bad  plumbing-work  ;  and  the  steady 
run  of  water  which  is  suffered  in  winter  time  to  prevent  freezing. 

CASE  NO.   I. 

Where  there  were  five  hopper-closets  supplied  in  twelve  months  they 

consumed  ......................................................  1,088,750  gallons. 

By  substituting  pan-closets  for  these  the  consumption  for  the  same 

length  of  time  was  reduced  to  ...................................  384,831  " 

Amount  saved  .....................................................        703,919        " 

CASE  NO.   II. 

Where  there  were  three  hopper-closets  supplied,  in  twelve  months  they 

consumed  ......................................................  1,255,470  u 

By  substituting  pan-closets  for  these  the  consumption  for  the  same 
length  of  time  was  reduced  to.  ................................... 


Amount  saved  .....................................................     1,235,611 

CASE  NO.  III. 

Where  there  was  one  hopper-closet  supplied,  in  twelve  months  it  con- 

sumed .....................................................  554,780 

By  substituting  a  pan-closet  the  consumption  for  the  same  length  of 

time  was  reduced  to  ...........................................  100,572 

Amount  saved  .........................................   ...........        455,208 

CASE  NO.  IV. 

Where  there  were  three  hopper-closets  supplied,  in  twelve  months  they 

consumed  ........  ...........................................  494,180 

By  substituting  six  pans  for  the  three  hoppers,  for  the  same  length  of 

time,  the  consumption  was  reduced  to  ............................  113,774 

Amount  saved  ....................................................        380,406 

CASE  NO.  v. 

Where  there  was  one  hopper-closet  supplied,  in  twelve  months  it  con- 

sumed ..........................................................  554,800 

By  substituting  one  self-closing  closet,  for  the  same  length  of  time,  the 

consumption  was  reduced  to  ..........................  .  .........  79,205 

Amount  saved  ....................................................        475j595 


64  APPENDIX. 

"  The  result  of  the  above  five  cases  shows,  in  thirteen  closets  alone,  a  total  saving 
of  3,249,739  gallons  a  year,  or  a  daily  saving  of  685  gallons  for  each  closet,  at  the 
same  time  affording  all  the  needed  service.  In  these  cases  meters  are  attached,  and 
the  water  is  doubtless  shut  off  at  night,  showing,  in  part,  that  the  great  waste  was  in 
the  working  hours  of  the  day.  But  for  the  meter,  which  compels  the  consumer  to  pay 
for  all  the  water  wasted  as  well  as  used,  the  estimate  of  loss  above  given  would  be 
more  than  doubled.  Now,  take  the  whole  number  of  hopper-closets — i.  e.,  16,137 — 
and  assume  what  experience  has  shown  to  be  within  the  actual  fact — namely,  that  one 
closet  in  five  is  wasting  water  in  the  same  ratio  of  the  five  cases  cited — and  the  total 
waste  will  exhibit  the  amazing  aggregate  of  4,419,620  gallons  in  every  twenty-four 
hours." 


SUBSEQUENT  to  the  controversy  over  Regulation  12  of  the  New  York  Health 
Department,  the  Department  of  Public  Works  of  New  York,  with  a  view  to  discour- 
age the  use  of  water-closets  so  constructed  as  to  be  wasteful  of  water,  revised  the  water- 
rates  as  follows,  though  we  believe  these  charges  have  not  been  collected  in  all  cases  : 

WATER-CLOSET   RATES. 

"  For  hoppers,  of  any  form,  when  water  is  supplied  direct  from  the  Croton  sup- 
ply, through  any  form  of  the  so-called  single  or  double  valves,  hopper-cocks,  stop-cocks, 
self-closing  cocks,  or  any  valve  or  cock  of  any  description  attached  to  the  closet,  each, 
per  year,  twenty  dollars. 

' '  For  any  pan-closet,  or  any  of  the  forms  of  valve,  plunger,  or  other  water-closet 
not  before  mentioned,  supplied  with  water  as  above  described,  per  year,  ten  dollars. 

"  For  any  form  of  hopper,  or  water-closet,  supplied  from  the  ordinary  style  of 
cistern  fitted  with  ball-cock,  and  overflow-pipe  that  communicates  with  the  pipe  to  the 
water-closet,  so  that  overflow  will  run  into  the  hopper  or  water-closet,  when  ball-cock 
is  defective,  or  from  which  an  unlimited  amount  of  water  can  be  drawn  by  holding  up 
the  handle,  per  year  each,  five  dollars. 

"  For  any  form  of  hopper  or  water-closet,  supplied  from  any  of  the  forms  of  waste- 
preventing  cisterns  that  are  approved  by  the  Engineer  of  tthe  Croton  Aqueduct,  which 
are  so  constructed  that  not  more  than  three  gallons  of  water  can  be  drawn  at  each  lift 
of  the  handle,  or  depression  of  the  seat,  if  such  cisterns  are  provided  with  an  overflow- 
pipe — such  overflow-pipe  not  to  connect  with  the  water-closet,  but  to  be  carried  like  a 
safe-waste,  as  provided  by  the  Board  of  Health  Regulations — per  year,  two  dollars. 

"  Cisterns  answering  this  description  can  be  seen  at  this  Department." 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  thus  commented  editorially  on  these  rates  : 

As  far  as  they  go  we  think  they  hit  the  nail  on  the  head  in  discriminating  against 
such  forms  of  fixtures  as  are  conceded  to  be  wasteful.  Boston,  some  years  ago,  forbade 
the  use  of  the  form  that  is  to  be  taxed  $20  per  annum,  on  account  of  its  great  wasteful- 
ness ;  though  there  they  mistakenly  went  to  the  other  extreme,  by  insisting  on  a  self- 
closing-cock,  which  had  to  be  held  open  to  permit  even  the  most  inefficient  flush  ; 
consequently,  such  closets  never  were  flushed  and  were  most  offensive. 


APPENDIX.  65 

Thousands  of  these  closets  are  now  in  use  in  this  city,  cheapness  being  their  only 
recommendation.  It  is  quite  time  that  those  who,  to  save  the  cost  of  putting  in  a 
proper  appliance,  thereby  cause  a  waste  that  deprives  others  of  water  that  they  should 
have,  should  be  made  to  pay  a  sufficient  tax  to  make  this  course  no  longer  profitable. 

Those  taxed  ten  dollars  per  year  are  the  better  forms  of  water-closets  usually 
located  above  the  basement  floor.  They  are  also  wasteful,  although  not  to  so  great  a 
degree  as  the  former,  and  even  when  their  valves  are  supplied  from  large  tanks  near  the 
roof,  a  great  deal  of  water  has  to  be  pumped  that  has  leaked  away  through  these  valves 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  owners  of  the  building,  who  pay  the  meter  charges  with- 
out knowing  why  they  are  so  high  or  how  it  is  possible  to  reduce  them. 

The  third  class,  taxed  five  dollars,  are  any  forms  of  cistern-closets  in  which  the 
entire  contents  of  the  cistern  (if  over  three  gallons)  can  be  drawn  off  if  the  handle  is 
propped  up,  and  in  which  the  overflow-pipe  communicates  with  the  service-box,  so  that 
if  the  ball-cock  leaks  the  leakage  runs  unnoticed  into  the  bowl  of  the  water-closet. 
There  is  a  probability  of  waste  here,  but  not  to  so  great  a  degree  as  in  the  two  former 
kinds. 

The  last  form,  on  which  no  extra  tax  is  placed  (t-vo  dollars  being  the  rate  hitherto), 
prescribes  what  is  required  in  all  the  best  managed  water-works  in  Great  Britain. 

Cisterns  which  meet  these  requirements  can  be  made  by  any  one,  and  are  not  pat- 
entable  ;  indeed,  many  involving  this  principle  are  now  used  over  hoppers,  and  to 
come  within  all  the  requirements  it  is  only  necessary  to  change  the  overflows. 

In  setting  this  standard  of  what  is  regarded  as  the  least  wasteful,  the  Department 
have  acted  in  accordance  with  what  is  deemed  the  best  practice  in  the  light  of  past 
experience. 

Manufacturers  of  water-closets  will  do  well  to  at  once  arrange  to  supply  tanks  that 
will  meet  this  last  requirement,  as  sooner  or  later  there  will  be  a  demand  for  them. 
Architects  will  also  consult  their  client's  interest  when  they  make  specifications  for  new 
work,  if  they  take  into  consideration  the  advantages,  pro  and  con,  of  the  classes  of 
fixtures  that  are  to  be  taxed  annually — $5  and  $2,  respectively. 


THE  BOARD  OF  HEALTH  RESOLUTIONS  AS  TO  THE  WATER-RATES. 

AT  this  time  the  following  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Board  of  Health  of  New 
York: 

"  Whereas,  It  is  important  for  the  protection  of  this  city  that  a  water-pressure 
should  be  maintained  at  the  highest  possible  level,  in  order  to  secure  a  supply  for  flush- 
ing water-closets  and  other  apparatus  ;  and 

"  Whereas,  The  diminished  pressure  caused  by  steadily  increasing  consumption 
and  waste  prevents  the  flow  of  water  to  the  level  of  many  floors,  which  would  other- 
wise be  abundantly  supplied  ;  therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Health  heartily  approves  the  recent  action  of  the 
Department  of  Public  Works,  in  adopting  a  revised  scale  of  water-rates,  which,  if 
rightly  enforced,  will  discourage  thoughtless  waste  and  the  use  of  appliances  which  are 
known  to  be  wasteful  and  which  should  be  prohibited  on  account  of  the  limited  supply 
of  water  to  this  city. 


66  APPENDIX. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Department  of  Health  will  co-operate  efficiently  with  the 
Department  of  Public  Works  in  the  enforcement  of  all  proper  measures  having  in 
view  the  prevention  of  the  waste  of  water." 


THE  following  extracts  explain  more  fully  the  matters  referred  to  in  the  foregoing 
pages : 

WATER-CLOSETS,  VALVES,  AND  CISTERNS. 

(From  the  Sanitary  Engineer,  May  18,   1882.) 
To  the  Editor  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  : 

For  the  instruction  and  benefit  of  your  numerous  readers  who  do  not  ' '  belong  to 
the  trade,"  will  you  not  explain  what  is  meant  by  the  terms  single  or  double-valves,  hop- 
per-cocks, stop-cocks,  self-closing-cocks  ?"  What  description  of  water-closets  are  included 
in  the  ten-dollar  rate  ?  What  description  of  water-closets  are  included  in  the  five-dollar 
rate  ?  What  are  the  waste-preventing  cisterns  mentioned  in  the  two-dollar  rate  ? 

By  giving  a  plain  explanation  of  these  things,  you  will  greatly  oblige  me,  and,  I  am 
sure,  many  others  who  do  not  understand  the  distinctions  named.  Very  respectfully, 

P.  F.  VAN  EVEREN, 

May  ii,  1882.  116  Nassau  St.,  N.  Y. 

The  hopper-closets  to  be  taxed  $20  per  year  are  the  ordinary  enameled-iron  hop- 
pers, fitted  with  or  connected  to  the  valves  and  cocks  which  control  their  water-supply. 
These  are  innumerable  in  form  and  description.  They  are  illustrated  in  every  plumb- 
ing material  catalogue  and  can  be  explained  by  any  plumber.  Those  most  commonly 
used  in  this  city  are  a  spring-valve  attached  to  the  side  of  the  hopper  and  opened  by  the 
depression  of  the  seat  bearing  against  the  spindle  of  the  valve.  They  are  supposed  to 
close  when  the  seat  is  relieved  of  weight  and  are  aided  in  such  action  by  a  spring  inside 
the  valve.  In  some  styles,  called  the  double-valve,  the  water  is  supposed  not  to  run 
when  the  seat  is  occupied,  but  when  the  pressure  is  removed  the  valve  is  arranged  to 
deliver  a  certain  amount  of  water  and  then  cease  running  ;  great  numbers  of  valves  are 
also  set  in  the  ground,  a  rod  communicating  from  them  to  the  seat.  Another  kind  yet 
in  use  in  this  city  is  a  stop-cock  with  a  rod  attached  which  extends  up  through  the  side 
of  the  seat  and  is  operated  by  a  crank  after  the  manner  of  the  ordinary  wooden 
hydrant. 

The  location  of  hoppers  of  the  kind  described  is  generally  where  they  get  rough 
usage  ;  they  are  often  exposed  to  frost,  and  being  in  basements  and  cellars,  where  the 
pressure  is  the  greatest,  they  naturally  leak  the  most  water.  It  is  a  common  occurrence 
to  find  the  crank-cocks  left  open  by  careless  servants  and  others,  and  when  the  spring- 
valves  are  used  bricks  are  frequently  laid  on  the  seat  to  keep  them  running  in  the  win- 
ter time. 

The  class  of  closets  taxed  $10  per  year  are  any  kind  other  than  these  hoppers, 
which  are  supplied  with  water  through  the  valves  described,  or  any  other  kind  of  valves, 
without  the  intervention  of  a  special  cistern  for  the  water-closet.  A  large  tank  in  which 
the  water  connects  directly  with  one  of  these  valves  or  cocks  on  a  water-closet,  so  that 
the  supply  can  be  drawn  without  operating  any  valves  in  said  tank,  as,  for  instance, 
would  be  the  case  with  the  large  storage-tanks  on  the  upper  floors  of  buildings  in  this 
city,  would  not  be  considered  a  special  tank  within  the  meaning  of  the  rules. 


APPENDIX. 


67 


The  tax  on  valves  and  cocks  on  the  pan  and  improved  forms  of  closets  is  made  less 
than  in  the  case  of  hoppers,  because,  we  presume,  the  conditions  of  their  use  make 
them  less  wasteful,  but  that  they  are  also  wasteful  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  prove. 

For  an  explanation  of  the  forms  of  cistern-supply  taxed  $5  and  $2,  respectively, 
we  refer  to  an  article  by  "  Sanitas,"  quoted  below,  which  fully  explains  them. 

We  have  not  illustrated  any  form  of  water-closet  or  valve,  for  the  reason  that  it 
might  be  deemed  a  reflection  on  the  particular  make  selected  for  illustration.  This  we 
desire  to  avoid,  as  the  rules  affect  all  makers  and  kinds  alike. 


THE  following  abstract  from  the  articles  by  "  Sanitas,"  on  "  Plumbing  Practice," 
in  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER,  explains  the  revised  water-rates  of  the  New  York 
Department  of  Public  Works  : 


FIGURE  i. 


Figure  i  shows  the  ordinary  cistern  now  in  use  over  water-closets  where  the  flush 
is  produced  by  the  lifting  of  the  water-closet  handle. 

This  kind  of  a  flushing  apparatus  is  taxed  $5  per  year,  I  presume  because  there 
is  a  possibility  of  waste  from  two  causes  :  First,  should  the  ball-cock  A  leak  the 
water  leaked  will  flow  unnoticed  down  the  pipe  D  into  the  water-closet.  This  pipe 
it  will  be  seen,  serves  as  an  overflow  as  well  as  an  air-pipe  for  the  service-box  F.  Sec- 
ondly, if  persons  are  so  disposed,  they  can  fasten  up  the  water-closet  handle  so  that 
the  water  can  run  from  the  cistern  into  the  water-closet  indefinitely  ;  which  is  possible, 
because  when  the  water  lowers  in  the  cistern,  the  float  B  will  drop,  which  action  opens 
the  ball-cock  A,  so  that  after  the  contents  of  the  cistern  are  drawn  off  then  the  supply 


68 


APPENDIX. 


from  the  ball-cock  can  continue  to  run  out  of  the  cistern  into  the  service-box  F,  thence 
into  the  water-closet.  It  is  true  that  several  inventors  have  applied  for,  and  possibly 
have  obtained,  patents  for  arranging  a  water-closet  handle  so  that  it  can  be  fastened  up, 
expecting  to  sell  them  to  the  unthinking  people  (and  there  are  many  such)  who  imagine 
that  by  permitting  a  stream  of  water  to  run  into  a  water-closet  they  will  keep  out 
sewer-gas.  I  do  not  believe  these  devices  have  met  with  much  sale,  nor  do  I  believe 
that  with  a  good  flush  from  a  properly  constructed  cistern  people  will,  as  a  rule,  hold 
the  handle  up  so  long  as  to  materially  increase  the  consumption  of  water.  I  notice, 
however,  that  English  engineers  have  acted  on  that  assumption,  and  probably  their 
experience  is  of  more  value  in  coming  to  a  conclusion  than  my  opinions.  The  require- 
ment, however,  to  carry  the  overflow  down  like  a  safe-waste  and  not  into  the  water-closet 
as  hitherto  is  a  very  poor  one,  and  needs  no  argument,  for  it  seems  perfectly  clear  that 
when  the  water  from  a  leaky  ball-cock  can  flow  down  an  overflow-pipe  into  a  water- 
closet  such  leaks  are  not  likely  to  attract  sufficient  attention  to  induce  a  householder 
to  have  the  ball-cock  repaired,  but  when  carried  like  a  safe-waste  ft  will  be  likely  to 
receive  attention. 


FIGURE  2. 


Figure  2  shows  a  cistern  that  combines  the  features  and  meets  the  conditions 
required  by  the  new  rates  to  secure  the  lowest  tax.  Cisterns  of  substantially  this  char- 
acter are  used  in  most  English  cities.  They  are  not  patented  there,  and  no  valid 
patent  could  be  procured  for  them  here.  Of  course,  some  maker  might  get  up  some 
little  detail  on  which  he  might  secure  a  patent,  but  all  the  essential  features  are  public 
property.  By  reference  to  the  sketch  it  will  be  seen  that  when  the  cistern  is  at  rest  the 
water  is  at  the  same  level  in  both  compartments.  This  is  possible  because  the  valve  G 
is  lifted,  permitting  the  wrater  in  the  storage  part  C  to  flow  into  the  measuring  com- 
partment D.  When  the  handle  is  pulled  the  valve  G  closes  the  communication  with 


APPENDIX.  Op 

the  measuring  compartment  D,  and  the  valve  H  is  lifted,  allowing  the  contents  (3  gal- 
lons) Lo  pass  into  the  service-box  E  and  thence  to  the  water-closet.  Where  hoppers 
are  used,  the  service-box  E  is  not  needed,  but  with  most  forms  of  water-closets  it  is 
necessary  in  order  to  secure  what  is  called  the  after-wash,  which  fills  the  bowl  after  the 
flap-valve,  pan,  or  plunger  in  the  closet  is  restored  to  its  place.  This  after-flush  is 
possible  because  the  valve  H  is  larger  than  the  outlet  I  to  the  water-closet,  so  that 
when  the  cistern-valve  is  closed  the  service-box  retains  the  water  that  the  down-pipe  I 
has  not  carried  off.  This  quantity  makes  what  is  called  the  after-flush.  It  will  also 
be  noticed  that  in  this  cistern  there  is  no  overflow-pipe  communicating  with  the  water- 
closet  like  the  pipe  D  in  Figure  i,  but  the  pipe  K  serves  as  an  overflow  and  warning 
pipe,  and  is  required  to  terminate  where  any  leakage  can  be  readily  noticed  by  the 
occupants  of  the  house.  The  tracing  of  these  overflow-pipes  to  see  they  are  properly 
run,  I  imagine,  will  give  plenty  of  work  to  the  inspectors. 

The  tube  F  is  to  give  air  to  the  service-box  E,  so  the  water  will  run  off  when  the 
valve  H  is  closed. 


FIGURE  3. 

Figure  3  shows  what  is  familiarly  called  the  double-valve  cistern.  Large  numbers 
of  them  are  now  used  over  hopper-closets,  and  are  operated  by  connecting  a  chain  or 
wire  from  the  lever  on  the  cistern  to  a  lever-attachment  under  the  seat,  which  is  operated 
when  the  seat  is  occupied,  or  to  a  door.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  essential  features 
of  the  No.  2  cistern  are  also  in  this  one,  and  the  same  result  can  be  secured  by 
reversing  the  order  of  hanging  the  valves.  In  this  the  water  is  all  retained  in  the  stor- 
age-compartment until  the  seat  is  depressed,  then  the  valve  G  is  opened,  and  the  out- 
let-valve H  to  the  water-closet  is  closed.  No  matter  how  long  the  seat  may  be  occu- 
pied, no  more  than  the  contents  of  this  compartment  can  be  drawn  off.  It  will  be 


70  APPENDIX. 

noticed,  however,  that,  like  Figure  I,  the  overflow-pipe  communicates  with  the  pipe  to 
the  water-closet.  To  secure,  therefore,  the  benefit  of  the  lowest  rates  the  only  change 
required  in  this  cistern  is  to  take  the  overflow  down  from  the  outside  like  a  safe-waste 
from  a  point  below  the  air-pipe,  which  should  be  extended. 

I  must  confess  that  I  think  these  rules  are  sound,  and  I  only  trust  a  system  of 
inspection  will  be  instituted  and  maintained  that  will  secure  the  impartial  enforcement 
of  them,  and  I  apprehend  that  if  this  is  done  there  will  be  far  less  complaint  than 
when  parties  who  have  cheerfully  gone  to  the  expense  of  meeting  the  wishes  of  the 
authorities  find  after  a  time  that  their  friends  and  neighbors  who  may  have  ignored 
them  are  not  molested.  If  all  are  treated  alike,  then  manufacturers,  plumbers,  and 
householders  can  know  what  to  depend  on  and  will  have  no  cause  for  complaint. 


THE    SANITARY   ENGINEER  : 

A  JOURNAL  OF 

CIVIL  AND  SANITARY  ENGINEERING 

AND 

PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE  HYGIENE. 

CONDUCTED   BY    HENRY   C.    MEYER. 


u  A  large  and  flourishing  weekly  journal,  covering  the  whole  field  of  Sanitary  Science  and  recog- 
nized as  a  leading  authority  upon  the  subject." — The  Nation. 

44  It  is  gratifying  to  see  that  the  public,  as  well  as  specialists,  are  enough  interested  in  Sanitary  mat- 
ters to  give  substantial  support  to  a  periodical  ably  endeavoring  to  impart  much  needed  and  vital  in- 
struction."— N.  Y.  Times. 

44  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  shows  an  excellent  appreciation  of  what  may  be  done  in  the  field  of 
Sanitary  Engineering,  and  a  practical  ability  for  doing  it." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

41  The  recognized  American  authority  on  all  departments  of  Sanitary  Engineering." — Cincinnati 
Gazette. 

44  It  has  done  an  excellent  work  in  disseminating  the  most  intelligent  opinions  on  Sanitation." — 
Springfield  Republican.  • 

44  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  has  done  a  noble  work  in  the  field  it  has  chosen." — Boston  Herald. 

44  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  is,  beyond  question,  the  ablest  publication  of  its  class  in  this  country. 
The  papers  prepared  for  it  are  from  the  pens  of  the  ablest  experts,  and  treat  of  specialties  the  discussion 
of  which  is  essential  to  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  sanitary  growth  and  progress." — Memphis 
Appeal. 

44  The  leading  journal  of  the  kind  published  in  the  United  States." — Troy  Times,  Dec.  n,  1882. 
44  The  best  journal  of  its  class  in  this  country." — Bridgeport  Standard,  Dec.  30,  1882. 
44  Standard  authority  on  matters  pertaining  to  its  specialty." — Am.  Machinist. 

44  It  is  a  journal  with  a  mission — that  of  raising  the  low  standard  of  Sanitary  Engineering  which 
exists  in  the  United  States.  Its  large  editorial  staff  includes  the  names  of  some  of  the  best  known  and 
most  practical  writers  in  America  on  health  subjects,  and  no  pains  or  expense  are  spared  in  making  the 
paper  useful  to  the  fullest  extent." — Engineering,  London. 

"  It  would  be  impossible  to  point  out  a  publication  in  which  the  department  of  public  sanitation 
receives  greater  or  more  careful  attention  than  in  the  journal  of  which  we  have  received  the  fifth  and 
sixth  volumes.  Whatever  fault  may  be  found  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  with  the  newspaper  press  of 
America,  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  that  portion  of  the  periodical  literature  of  the  United  States  which 
is  devoted  to  science,  occupies  a  most  distinguished  place  amongst  the  scientific  press  of  the  globe. 
THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  stands  high  in  this  respect.  In  its  pages  the  various  subjects  relating  to 
public  health — drainage,  water  supply,  ventilation,  heating  and  lighting — are  most  conscientiously  at- 
tended to,  shortcomings  and  abuses  being  fearlessly  exposed,  and  care  being  taken  to  have  all  expressed 
opinions  upon  technical  matters  prepared  or  revised  by  specialists.— Iron,  London, 


Sold  by  Newsdealers,  10  cents  a  copy. 

Subscription,  $4.00 per  annum,  post-paid  in  United  States  and  Canada. 
Great  Britain,  20  shillings. 

No.  140  WILLIAM  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 
92  and  93  FLEET  ST.,  LONDON. 


THE  FOURTH  VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER. 


A    VALUABLE    VOLUME. 


No  book  of  more  permanent  value  can  be  put  into  a  library  than  the  fourth  volume 
of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER.  Its  contents  cover  a  great  variety  of  topics,  relating  to 
preservation  of  health  in  our  cities  and  homes,  by  some  of  the  very  best  authorities  in 
this  country  and  England.  From  the  great  number  of  articles  of  permanent  value,  we 
select  the  following  as  indicative  of  the  scope  and  character  of  the  whole  : 


Report  of  the  Committee  of  Award  on  the 
Essays  in  the  Food  A  dulteration  Competition. — 
Together  with  the  text  of  the  essays.  These 
form  a  very  valuable  body  of  matter  relating  to 
the  regulation  of  adulteration  by  law,  and  were 
largely  instrumental  in  determining  the  character 
of  the  legislation  in  this  State  and  New  Jersey, 
and  that  now  before  Congress. 

Recent  History  of  Electric  Lighting^  and  notes 
on  the  Present  Condition  of  the  Electric  Light, 
—By  President  Henry  Morton,  of  the  Stevens 
Institute  of  Technology. 

Letters  to  a  Young  Architect  on  Ventilation 
and  Heating. — A  series  of  papers  on  the  heating 
and  ventilation  of  buildings.  By  Dr.  John  S. 
Billings,  of  the  United  States  Army. 

Water  A  nalysis.—Ey  Dr.  Charles  Smart,  U.  S. 
A.  A  very  valuable  series  of  papers  on  the  sani- 
tary effect  of  impure  water  supplies,  and  the  ap- 
proved methods  of  water  analysis. 

Plumbing  Practice. — By  "  Sanitas."  A  series 
of  practical  papers  of  general  interest  on  good  and 
bad  plumbing  in  our  houses. 

A  series  of  Miscellaneous  Papers  in  Sanitary 
Engineering. — With  special  attention  to  the 
latest  results  attained  in  the  Disposal  of  Sewage. 
By  Prof.  Henry  Robinson,  C.  E.,  of  London. 

A  very  thorough  discussion  of  the  Separate 
System  of  Sewerage. — Especially  as  applied  at 
Memphis.  Participated  in  by  Robert  Rawlinson, 


C.  E.,  C.  B.,  of  London  ;  Mr.  E.  S.  Philbrick,  C. 
E.,  of  Boston  ;  Col.  George  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  and 
other  well-known  engineers. 

In  the  Food  and  Drug  Department  will  be 
found  the  text  of  the  New  York  Law,  the  Adul- 
teration Legislation  of  other  States,  and  notes  on 
current  adulterations  by  experts  in  this  country, 
England  and  France. 

Among  its  miscellaneous  articles  are  the  text  of 
the  Plumbing  Law  for  New  York  and  Brooklyn  ; 
the  Regulations  and  Blank  Forms  of  the  Board  of 
Health  adopted  in  pursuance  of  the  law,  and  a 
discussion  of  the  Regulations  by  Practical  Plumb- 
ers in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

A  great  variety  of  questions,  arising  in  the 
plumbing  of  houses,  sewering  of  cities,  heating  of 
buildings,  and  questions  connected  with  infectious 
diseases  are  answered  in  its  correspondence. 
These  answers  contain  the  very  best  accessible 
opinions  on  a  very  great  variety  of  practical  mat- 
ters, and  are  a  most  valuable  feature  of  this  jour- 
nal. 

In  its  Gas  and  Electric  Lighting  Department 
will  be  found  in  compact  form  the  latest  discoveries 
and  inventions  in  gas  making,  and  electric  light- 
ing, and  items  on  the  current  news  in  these  indus- 
tries, prepared  by  an  expert  on  these  topics. 

The  latest  discoveries  in  the  treatment  or  caus- 
ation of  epidemic  and  other  diseases  are  discussed 
in  its  Sanitary  and  Health  Notes  by  the  best 
known  sanitarians. 


Bound  in  cloth,  $5.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER, 

140  William  Street, 

New  York. 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  2os. 


THE  FIFTH  VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER 


Comprises  the  twenty-six  weekly  issues  from  December  to  May,  1881-2,  and  it  is  the 
first  completed  volume  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER  as  a  weekly.  As  our  first  and 
second  volumes  are  out  of  print,  this  volume,  in  the  main,  is  a  treatise  on  the  elemen- 
tary as  well  as  the  higher  branches  of  sanitation. 

We  give  below  a  general  outline  of  the  main  subjects  embraced  in  Volume  V.,  sub- 
divided, so  that  it  may  conveniently  be  seen  why  this  volume  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
all,  and  particularly  be  read  : 


BY  PLUMBERS,  because  of  the  thorough  dis- 
cussion on  cistern  and  direct  supply  for  water- 
closets,  by  authorities  on  water-works  both  here 
and  abroad,  and  letters  on  same  subject  from 
practical  plumbers  throughout  the  United  States. 

Descriptions  of  the  plumbing  work  of  the  Van- 
derbilt  houses  in  New  York,  and  other  fine  jobs 
(illustrated),  with  practical  comments  on  same  by 
various  plumbers. 

Board  of  Health  rules,  etc.,  as  relating  to 
plumbing  and  the  plumbing  laws  in  this  State 
and  elsewhere,  with  discussions. 

A  series  of  articles  on  Plumbing  Practice  by 
"  Sanitas."  Illustrated. 

And  a  variety  of  questions  from  many  practical 
men  in  the  trade,  and  the  answers  thereto,  with 
illustrations. 

BY  STEAM  FITTERS,  because  of  a  series  of 
papers  by  "  Thermus,"  a  practical  man,  on  piping 
of  buildings  and  subjects  of  actual  experience. 
Illustrated. 

BY  GAS  FITTERS,  because  of  the  theoretical 
and  practical  questions  and  answers  on  pipes, 
burners  and  gas  as  an  illuminant.  Illustrated. 

BY  ENGINEERS,  because  of  a  course  of 
papers  on  the  drainage  of  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  separate  system  of  sewerage,  by  Robert 
Rawlinson. 

A  number  of  editorials  on  New  York's  water 
supply,  and  a  collection  of  articles  on  water 
waste,  giving  the  views  of  home  and  foreign  engi- 


neers, together  with  reports  and  regulations  of 
many  cities  where  this  subject  has  been  thor- 
oughly studied. 

BY  ARCHITECTS,  because  of  the  reasons 
above  mentioned,  and  on  account  of  "  Letters  to 
a  Young  Architect,"  by  Dr.  John  S.  Billings, 
U.  S.  A.  Also  for  the  multitude  of  various  sub- 
jects discussed  and  suggested  of  importance  in 
building,  many  of  which  are  illustrated. 

BY  ELECTRICIANS  AND  GAS  ENGI- 
NEERS, because  of  the  matter  of  interest  to  gas 
fitters,  as  stated,  and  for  information  of  the  latest 
discoveries  and  inventions  in  gas-making  and 
electric-lighting.  Illustrated. 

BY  DRUGGISTS,  CHEMISTS  AND  PHAR- 
MACISTS, because  of  the  report  of  the  experts 
appointed  by  the  New  York  State  Board  of 
Health  on  food  and  drug  adulteration. 

A  series  of  articles  on  drug  adulteration,  by 
Alfred  Senier,  M.  D.,  F.  C.  S.,  and  numerous 
communications  and  notes  from  experts  on  food 
and  drugs. 

BY  PHYSICIANS,  because  of  the  information 
and  comments  on  the  new  discoveries  of  the 
causes  of  disease,  and  the  treatment. 

And  'for  the  same  reasons  as  architects  and 
druggists. 

BY  HEALTH  BOARDS,  for  the  same  reasons 
as  plumbers,  engineers  and  physicians. 

BY  THE  HOUSEHOLDER  and  general  public 
for  all  the  reasons  above  mentioned. 


Bound  in  cloth,  $3.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER, 

140  William  Street, 

New  York. 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  i$s.  / 


THE    SIXTH    VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER 

Includes  the  twenty-seven  issues  from  June  i  to  November  30,  1882. 
The  following  are  a  few  of  the  many  articles  of  permanent  interest : 


Illustrated  descriptions  of  the  plumbing  work 
in  the  v.-cli-known  residences  of  Messrs.  William 
K.  Vanderbilt,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Ex-Gov. 
Samuel  J.  Tilden,  John  Sloane.  Also  of  the 
"  Mills  Building"  (the  largest  office  building  in 
New  York),  and  Minot,  Hooper  &  Co.'s  Commer- 
cial Buildings.  A  Russian  Eath  Establishment 
in  Boston  and  the  St.  James  Hotel  in  Baltimore. 

"  Berlin  Sewerage."  An  elaborate  report  of 
the  system  just  completed,  with  illustrations.  By 
M.  A.  Durand-Claye,  Engineer-in-Chief  of 
Bridges  and  Roads  of  Paris. 

"  Trap  Syphonage."  Report  with  illustration 
of  experiments  for  National  Board  of  Health.  By 
Edw.  S.  Philbrick  and  E.  W.  Eowditch.  Also  by 
Col.  Geo.  E.  Waring,  Jr.  Also  in  England  by 
S.  S.  Hellyer,  Esq.  Interesting  and  valuable 
data. 

"  Coverings  for  Steam  Pipes."  Results  of 
Some  Experiments.  By  Mr.  M.  J.  Bird. 

Weekly  "  Mortality  Returns  "  of  the  leading 
cities  in  the  United  States,  with  "  Notes  and  Ab- 
stracts "  from  Reports  of  Health  Officers  and  cor- 
respondents of  the  National  Board  of  Health. 
These  have  been  printed  each  week,  beginning 
with  issue  of  October  12. 

"  Tin  in  Canned  Fruits."  By  Prof.  Albert  B. 
Prescott. 

"  Negro  Mortality  of  Memphis."  By  Dr.  G. 
B.  Thornton. 

"Pullman  Sewerage."  Abstract  of  paper  de- 
scribing it.  By  Benezette  Williams,  C.  E.,  Engi- 
neer-in-charge. 

44  Letters  to  a  Young  Architect  on  Heating  and 
Ventilation."  By  Dr.  J.  S.  Billings,  Surgeon, 
U.  S.  A. 

A  model  plan  for  an  "  Improved  Tenement  for 
Working  Men  in  New  York." 

"  Burning  of  Town  Refuse  at  Leeds."  A  paper 
by  Chas.  Slagg,  Assistant  C.  E. 

"  The  Relative  Uses  of  Gas  and  Electricity." 
By  C.  William  Siemens,  F.  R.  S. 

"  The  Management  of  Heating  Apparatus." 


An  extract  from  a  paper  by  S.  S.  Hellyer  on 
the  "  Unsealing  of  Traps  by  Momentum  " — in- 
teresting in  connection  with  experiments  made  by 
Messrs.  Philbrick  and  Bowditch,  and  Col.  George 
E.  Waring,  Jr. 

"  Water  Waste  Prevention."  "  Regulation  of 
Exeter  Water  Works."  A  paper  by  Geo.  I.  Dea- 
con, M.  Inst.  C.  E.,  read  before  Society  of  Arts. 
"  Report  of  Boston  Committee,"  and  report  of 
results  in  Cincinnati. 

"The  Massachusetts  Law  to  Prevent  the  Adul- 
teration of  Food  and  Drugs." 

Practical  articles  on  "  Steam  Fitting  and  Steam 
Heating."  By  "  Thermus." 

An  illustrated  article  describing  the  "  Accom- 
modation for  the  Foreign  Cattle  Trade  "  at  the 
Port  of  Liverpool.  By  Francis  Vacher,  M.  D. 

Plan  of  ' '  Flush  Tank  for  Country  Residences." 

"  Text  of  the  Illuminating  Oils  Bill  for  New 
York  State." 

"  The  Effect  of  Water  Level  on  Disease."  By 
Baldwin  Latham,  M.  Inst.  C.  E. 

"  A  Form  of  Specification  for  Steam  Fitting  of 
an  Eight-Story  Apartment  House." 

"  Report  on  Oil  Testers." 

An  article  on  the  "  Sewerage  of  Brighton,  Eng- 
land." With  reports  by  Sir  Joseph  Bazalgette 
and  J.  Bailey-Denton. 

A  series  of  papers  on  "  Water  Analysis,"  from 
the  A  nalyst, 

"Lead  Poisoning."  By  Dr.  Edw.  S.  Wood, 
Harvard  Medical  College. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  there  are  answers 
to  a  great  variety  of  questions  on  the  various  top- 
ics treated  by  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER,  the 
usual  record  of  patents  granted  and  the  weekly 
reviews  of  questions  of  current  interest  to  sanita- 
rians, and  of  the  condition  of  the  Gas  and  Elec- 
tric Light  Industries.  This  latter  feature  makes 
the  paper  of  real  value  to  inventors,  since  the  aim 
is  to  state  the  facts  without  bias  for  either  inter- 
est. 


By  Edw.  S.  Philbrick,  C.  E. 

Bound  in  cloth,  $3.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER. 

140  William  Street, 

New  York. 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  15*. 


THE    SEVENTH    VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER 


Includes  the  twenty-six  weekly  issues  from  December  7,  1882,  to  May  31,  1883. 
Among  the  articles  of  permanent  value  may  be  mentioned  : 


Letters  to  a  Young  Architect  on  Heating  and 
Ventilation.  By  Dr.  J.  S.  Billings,  U.  S.  A. 

Steam  Fitting  and  Steam  Heating.  By 
"Thermus."  A  series.  (Illustrated.) 

The  Edison  System  of  Wiring  Buildings  for  the 
Electric  Light.  (Illustrated.) 

Illustrated  descriptions  of  the  sanitary  arrange- 
ments in  the  residence  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt, 
Esq.,  the  Berkshire  Apartment  House,  Home  for 
Aged  Females,  and  the  Duncan  Office  Building. 

The  Steam  Heating  Companies  in  New  York. 
Illustrated  description  of. 

Full  abstract,  with  illustrations,  of  the  records 
in  the  McCloskey  Patent  Suit  for  Trap  Ventila- 
tion. 

The  New  York  Water  Supply.  A  series  of  ar- 
ticles on  the  suppression  of  waste  of  water,  giving 
the  experience  of  European  cities  in  attempting 
to  deal  with  this  problem,  the  practice  now  in 
vogue  there,  and  the  situation  in  American  cities. 
These  articles  will  be  found  of  great  value  to 
water-works  authorities  and  all  who  are  interested 
in  this  question. 

A  discussion  of  the  various  projects  for  increas- 
ing the  water  supply  of  New  York,  including  the 
Croton  Aqueduct  scheme,  appears  in  almost  every 
number  in  this  volume. 

Atlantic  Coast  Resorts.    A  Report  by  E.  W.    j 
Bowditch,  C.  E.,  to  the  National  Board  of  Health,    j 

National    Board   of  Health,    Congressional   I 
Debates  on  the. 


How  the  Plumbing  Law  is  enforced  in  New 
York.  A  description  of  the  methods  employed 
by  the  department. 

Germs  and  Epidemics.  By  Dr.  John  S.  Bil- 
lings, U.  S.  A. 

Malaria  (a  series).  By  George  M.  Sternberg, 
Surgeon  U.  S.  Army. 

Lead  Burning.  Apparatus  and  Process  de- 
scribed. 

Gas  Fitting  in  an  Office  Building.  Descrip- 
tion of  work  in  the  Mills  Building. 

A  merican  Practice  in  Warming  Buildings 
by  Steam.  By  the  late  Robert  Briggs,  M.  Inst. 
C.  E.  A  paper  read  before  the  institution. 

There  is  also  the  current  information  of  the  op- 
eration of  the  food  adulteration  laws  ;  record  of 
rulings  and  prosecutions,  and  copies  of  laws.  The 
weekly  and  monthly  mortality  table  of  the  princi- 
pal cities  of  the  United  States,  together  with  a 
large  amount  of  home  and  foreign  health  notes. 
The  most  complete  collection  of  data  on  this  sub- 
ject published.  Carefully  prepared  reviews  of 
the  reports  of  health  officers,  and  the  current  san- 
itary literature.  Answers  to  a  great  variety  of 
practical  questions  on  plumbing,  heating,  water 
supply,  and  steam  fitting.  Record  of  Patents, 
and  the  current  record  of  projected  buildings  and 
construction  notes,  which  includes  information  of 
special  interest  to  Contractors,  Engineers  and 
Architects. 


Bound  in  Cloth,  $3.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE    SANITARY    ENGINEER, 

140  William   Street, 

New   York. 

Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  15.?. 


THE   EIGHTH   VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER 

Comprises  the  twenty-six  weekly  issues  from  June  7  to  November  29,  1883,  and  is 
replete  with  interesting  information  for  every  intelligent  person. 

Among  the  many  important  articles  of  permanent  interest,  the  following  may  be 
mentioned  : 


Vital  Statistics.— Ry  Dr.  John  S.  Billings,  Sur- 
geon U.  S.  Army.  A  series  of  original  and  sug- 
gestive papers. 

Steam-Fitting  and  Steam-Heating. — By 
"Thermus."  A  series  of  illustrated  articles  on 
modern  practice  in  the  fitting  of  buildings  with 
Steam  Apparatus. 

Letters  to  a  Young  Architect  on  Heating  and 
Ventilation.— &y  John  S.  Billings,  Surgeon  U.  S. 
Army.  A  continuation  of  the  Illustrated  series. 

The  Use  of  Lead  for  Conveying  and  Storing 
Water— By  Prof.  Wm.  Ripley  Nichols.  A 
valuable  contribution  giving  the  results  of  exper- 
ience and  investigation  up  to  the  present  time. 

English  Plumbing  Practice. — By  a  Journey- 
man Plumber.  A  series  of  illustrated  practical 
articles  of  special  interest  to  practical  workers. 

Model  Stables. — Giving  illustrated  descriptions 
of  the  ventilation  and  drainage  of  the  stables  of 
Mr.  Wm.  Pickhardt  and  Mr.  Frank  Work,  New 
York. 

A  Series  of  Illustrated  A  rticles.—Ry  F.  B. 
Brock,  giving  the  expired  patents  on  water-closets, 
and  radiators  used  in  steam  heating.  Of  value  to 
those  interested  in  the  manufacture  of  these  ap- 
pliances. 

Illustrated  Description  of  the  Sewerage  and 
Water-Supply  of  Bunzlau,  in  Silesia,  in  1773. — 
By  W.  Doerich,  C.E.  Of  historical  interest. 

The  Liernur  System  of  Sewerage. — Carefully 
prepared  reviews  of  its  claim  in  connection  with  a 
report  on  the  system  of  Dr.  Overbeek  de  Meijer, 
and  a  discussion  of  its  applicability  for  Baltimore. 

The  Relation  of  Soils  to  Health.— Giving 
results  of  experiments  on  filtering  capacity  of  soils. 
By  Raphael  Pumpelly. 

American  Practice  in  warming  Buildings  by 
Steam.— By  the  late  Robt.  Briggs,  M.  Inst.  C.E. 


Illustrated  Description  of  the  Plumbing, 
Heating,  Lighting,  and  Ventilation  in  the  fol- 
lowing Buildings:  The  Marquand  Houses, 
Apartment  house  at  Madison  Avenue  and 
Thirtieth  Street;  New  Library  Building,  Columbia 
College  ;  the  Duncan-Office  Building,  Hawthorne 
Apartment  House,  all  in  New  York  City.  Plumb- 
ing in  residence  of  Thos.  Craig,  Esq.,  Montreal ; 
The  Government  Printing-office,  Washington; 
The  Holborn  Restaurant,  London. 

A  Novel  and  Ornamental  Fire-Escape. — 
Illustrated. 

Plan  of  Improved  Tenements  for  Working 
People  erected  by  the  Corporation  of  Trinity 
Church. 

Plan  of  a  Public  Shower-Bath  in  Berlin. 

The  Turco-Russian  Baths  of  Astor  Place \ 
New  York. — Illustrated  description. 

The  Vienna  Electrical  Exhibition. — A  series 
of  letters  by  an  expert  describing  features  of  the 
exhibition.  Illustrated. 

There  are  also  carefully-prepared  reviews  of  the 
reports  of  Health  Officials,  Water  Boards,  City 
Engineer,  and  the  current  literature  on  the  sub- 
jects treated  by  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER. 

Also  the  current  information  of  the  operation 
of  the  food  adulteration  laws,  record  of  rulings 
and  prosecutions,  and  copies  of  laws ;  the  weekly 
and  monthly  mortality  table  of  the  principal  cities 
of  the  United  States,  together  with  a  large 
amount  of  home  and  foreign  health  notes,  the 
most  complete  collection  of  data  on  this  subject 
published  ;  answers  to  a  great  variety  of  practical 
questions  on  plumbing,  heating,  water-supply 
and  steam-fitting;  record  of  patents,  and  the 
current  record  of  projected  buildings  and  construc- 
tion notes,  which  includes  information  of  special 
interest  to  contractors,  engineers  and  architects. 


Bound  in  cloth  with  Index,  $3.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER, 

140  William  Street, 

New  York. 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  15^. 


THE    NINTH    VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER. 

For  Civil,  Mechanical,  and  Sanitary  Engineers,  Architects,  Health  Officers,  Plumbers,  Steam-Fitters, 
and  general  readers  who  are  aware  of  the  rapidly  increasing  importance  of  the  study  of  all  topics  affect- 
ing the  public  health,  the  Ninth  Volume  of  THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER,  including  the  26  weekly  issues 
from  December  6,  1883,  to  May  29,  1884,  contains  much  matter  of  great  value.  Its  articles  are  prepared 
by  the  best  authorities  in  the  several  departments,  and  are  at  the  same  time  written  to  be  understood  by 
intelligent  householders  who  are  not  themselves  either  Engineers  or  Sanitarians. 

The  following  are  among  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  Volume  : 


The  Duties  and  Responsibilities  of  State  and 
National  Officers  of  Health,  in  a  series  of  Edi- 
torials of  much  vigor. 

Carefully-prepared  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of 
State  and  Local  Boards  of  Health,  making  one 
of  the  most  complete  records  of  the  pi  esent  condi- 
tion of  Sanitation  in  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  which  is  accessible  to  the  reader. 

Mortality  Statistics  of  the  United States,  pre- 
sented in  a  weekly  table  very  carefully  compiled, 
with  weekly  notes  on  the  health  of  the  United 
States,  Canada,  and  Europe. 

Vital  Statistics.— Several  valuable  papers  by 
Dr.  J.  S.  Billings,  on  the  computation  of  these 
Statistics. 

Numerous  important  articles  on  the  Adulter- 
ation of  Food. 

Improved  Tenement-Houses  as  a  Business  In- 
vestment.— Illustrations  of  Buildings  in  New 
York  and  London. 

The  Public  School-Houses  of  New  York  City. 
— An  incisive,  accurate  series  of  Reports  by  Spe- 
cial Agents,  with  illustrations  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary cases. 

Cottage  Hospitals. — The  first  numbers  in  a 
series  of  papers  by  Henry  C.  Burdett,  of  London, 
valuable  to  Physicians,  Architects  and  Sanitarians. 

Lofty  Buildings.— Their  disadvantages.  Two 
papers  by  Prof.  R.  Kerr,  of  Kings  College,  Lon- 
don. Valuable  in  connection  with  the  current  dis- 
cussion of  that  subject. 

Public  Baths  and  Wash-Houses.— 'The  first  of 
a  series  of  papers  on  the  Public  Provision  of  Bath- 
ing Facilities  in  Cities. 

Plumbing  Apprenticeship. — A  discussion  by 
Master  and  Journeymen  Plumbers. 

Its  more  strictly  Technical  Articles  contain, 
among- others :  A  History  of  American  Water- 
Works  Practice,  in  its  full  Reviews  of  Reports  of 
Water-Works  Engineers  and  City  Engineers. 
These  are  probably  the  fullest  notice  of  this  sub- 
ject which  is  accessible.  Comments  on  Notable 
Examples  of  Water- Work  Construction  at  home 
and  abroad.  Reports  on  the  Quaker  Bridge  Dam 
(New  York  Water-Supply),  by  B.  S.  Church, 
C.  E.,  and  Isaac  Newton,  C.  E. 

The  Water-Supply  of  London.— A  series  of 
papers  by  an  English  Water-Works  Engineer. 

Notes  on  Sewerage  Practice  in  the  United 
States  and  Europe. 

Original  Data  on  the  Memphis  Sewerage. 


A  thorough  Description  of  the  New  Main 
Sewerage  System,  of  Boston,  Mass. — Elaborately 
illustrated.  These  articles,  both  text  and  illus- 
trations, were  prepared  by  one  of  the  Engineers 
in  charge  of  the  work. 

Illustrated  Descriptions  of  Plumbing,  Heating, 
Lighting  and  Ventilation  of  Notable  Buildings, 
showing  the  best  modern  practice.  These  include , 
among  others,  the  Metropolitan  Opera-House, 
Stables  of  Mr.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  the  Manhat- 
tan Storage  Warehouse,  the  Russian  and  Turkish 
Baths  in  the  Hoffman  House,  the  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company's  Building,  and  Bridgeport 
Hospital.  These  descriptions  .are  prepared  with 
great  care,  and  are  fully  illustrated. 

American  Plumbing  Practice. — By  a  New 
York  Master  Plumber. 

English  Plumbing  Practice. — By  an  English 
Journeyman  Plumber. 

These  papers  show  the  practice  of  the  trade  in 
the  two  countries  where  plumbing  is  best  devel- 
oped. 

The  Steam-Fitting  and  Steam-Heating  of 
Houses. — By  a  Practical  Steam-Fitter,  under  the 
nom  de plume  "  Thermus." 

Gas  and  Electricity. — Processes  of  Gas  Manu- 
facture. The  Vienna  Electrical  Exhibition  is  de- 
scribed, with  illustrations,  in  the  Special  Corre- 
spondence of  an  American  Electrical  Engineer. 

Healthy  Foundations  for  Houses. — A  series  of 
papers  by  Glenn  Brown,  Architect. 

Correspondence. — Containing  a  great  variety  of 
inquiries  and  replies  by  the  best  obtainable  au- 
thorities on  Practical  Questions  affecting  House- 
Construction,  Plumbing,  Water-Supply,  Heating, 
Ventilation,  Sewer  Building,  Reservoir  Construc- 
tion, etc. 

American     Patent     Records    and    English 
Patent  Records.— Containing  Patents  granted  in . 
the  department  of  manufacture  affected  by  Sani- 
tation in  all  its  branches,   Heating,  Plumbing, 
Ventilation,  etc. 

Notes  and  Discussions  on  Current  Topics  of 
Interest. — Among  these  have  been  articles  on  the 
Cause  of  the  Floods  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  the  Rela- 
tion of  Plumbers  to  State  Medicine^  Hints  to 
Housekeepers  on  the  Care  of  Mechanical  Appar- 
atus, Hygiene  of  Schools,  etc. 

Reports  of  Societies  and  Associations,  Awards 
of  Contracts,  the  Current  Record  of  Buildings 
Projected,  etc.,  are  furnished  by  Special  Corre- 
spondents. 


THE   WHOLE   CONSTITUTING  A   VOLUME   OF   PRACTICAL   INFORMATION    OF   THE   HIGHEST   VALUE. 

Bound  in  cloth,  with  Index,  $3.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER, 

140  William    Street, 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  15^.  New  York. 


THE   TENTH   VOLUME 


OF 


THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER 

Includes  the  twenty-six  weekly  issues  from  June  5  to  November  27,  1884. 
Among  the  articles  of  permanent  and  special  interest  may  be  mentioned  : 


Notable  Exhibits  at  the  International  Health 
Exhibition,  London. — These  illustrated  descrip- 
tions were  prepared  by  specialists,  and  possess 
more  than  usual  interest,  included  in  which  are 
illustrations  of  notable  lead-work,  of  special  in- 
terest to  plumbers  ;  description  of  Clark  s  process 
for  softening  and  purifying  water  ;  also  illustra- 
tions and  descriptions  of  various  sewage  and  water 
filters ;  illustrated  description  of  steam  ovens ; 
a  history  and  elaborate  description  of  the  various 
methods  of  separating  cream  by  mechanical  means, 
and  a  description  of  refrigerating  machines. 

London  Water  Companies. — Elaborate  descrip- 
tion, extending  through  several  numbers,  of  the 
interesting  exhibits  of  the  London  Water  Com- 
panies, showing  section  of  their  filter-beds,  and 
numerous  interesting  details  to  water  engineers. 
These  papers  were  prepared  by  a  well-known 
borough  engineer,  and  are  interesting  to  hydraulic 
engineers. 

Illustrated  Description  of  the  Plumbing, 
Heating,  Lighting,  and  Ventilating  of  Notable 
Buildings. — These  include,  among  others,  the  new 
building  of  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  of 
New  York;  residence  of  Henry  G.  Marquand,  Esq., 
New  York  •  residence  corner  Madison  Avenue  and 
Sixty-ninth  Street ;  Berkshire  Apartment-House  ; 
and  residence  of  H.  H.  Cook,  Esq.,  New  York. 

Steam-Fitting  and  Steam-Heating. — By  a 
practical  steam-fitter,  under  the  nom  de plume  of 
4  Thermus."  Continuation  of  series.  Fully  illus- 
trated. 

Public  Urinals  of  Paris.— Description,  with 
sheet  of  illustrations. 

English  Plumbing  Practice. — By  an  English 
Journeyman  Plumber.  These  articles  are  by  a 
thorough  workman,  and  of  special  interest  to 
mechanics  in  any  part  of  the  globe. 

New  Method  of  Heating  Two  Boilers  by  One 
Water-Back. — With  illustrations  and  description. 

The  Syphonage  and  Ventilation  of  Traps. — 
Criticism  on  the  report  of  Messrs.  Putnam  and 
Rice  on  their  experiments  with  traps,  printed  in 
.the  American  Architect,  and  correspondence 
thereon. 

Iron  as  a  Material  for  Purifying  Potable 
Water.— By  Prof.  William  Ripley  Nichols. 

Filtration  of  Certain  Saline  Solutions 
through  Sand. — Abstract  of  paper  by  Prof.  Wm. 
Ripley  Nichols. 

Healthy  Foundations  for  Houses. — Series  of 
papers,  illustrated,  by  Glenn  Brown,  Architect. 

Rights  of  Tenants  occupying  Insanitary 
Houses. — Opinion  of  Justice  Daly,  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  New  York. 

Preventative  Inoculation  for  Hydrophobia. — 
Comments  on  experiments  by  Prof.  Pasteur. 


Sewerage  of  Water  bury.—  Description,  with 
illustrated  details. 

New  Orleans  Quarantine  Conference. — Reso- 
lutions adopted  and  editorial  comments  on  the 
same. 

Improvements  in  the  Hull  General  Infirmary. 
—Illustrations  giving  plans  and  elevation,  with 
descriptive  matter. 

Unbalanced  and  Lumped  Bids. — An  elaborate 
communication  showing  the  methods  adopted  in 
France  and  other  European  countries  for  letting 
contracts  for  engineering  and  other  work. 

The  so-called  Plumbers'  Trade-Protection 
Controversy. — A  full  and  comprehensive  history 
of  the  misunderstandings  and  controversy  between 
certain  plumbing  societies  and  the  manufacturers 
and  dealers  in  plumbing  materials  in  the  United 
States  during  the  autumn  of  1884. 

International  Electrical  Exhibition  at  Phila- 
delphia.—-Series  of  letters  describing  the  exhibi- 
tion, with  illustrations. 

System  of  Heating  Houses  in  Germany  and 
A  ustria. — Illustrated  article. 

Pest-Holes  in  New  York. — Series  of  illustrated 
descriptions  of  some  of  the  notable  insanitary 
tenement-houses.  Editorial  comments  charging 
the  Board  of  Health  with  want  of  energy  in  deal- 
ing with  these  nuisances. 

Cholera. — Dr.  Max  Von  Petterkofer's  views. 

Public  Baths  and  Wash-Houses.— Illustrated 
description  of  notable  public  baths  in  London. 

Blunders  in  Plumbing. — Series  of  suggestive 
articles,  with  illustrations,  showing  the  blunders 
made  in  arranging  the  plumbing  details  of  houses. 
Notable  by-passes  in  arranging  trap-ventilation. 

Heating  and  Ventilating  Massachusetts  In- 
stitute of  Technology. — Description  of  methods 
employed,  by  S.  H.  Woodbridge.  Fully  illustrated. 

Aeration  of  Surface-Water. — Editorial  on 
report  of  Prof.  Albert  R.  Leeds,  on  the  results  of 
the  analysis  of  the  Schuylkill  water. 

Checking  the  Waste  of  Water  in  Boston.— 
Report  showing  very  satisfactory  results  due  to 
systematic  effort. 

Table  giving  Bids  in  Detail  for  Sections  A 
and  B  of  the  New  York  Aqueduct.  —  With 
editorial  comments  on  the  action  of  the  Commis- 
sioners in  rejecting  these  bids. 

Reports  by  Special    Correspondents — Of    the 

6-oceedings  of  the  International  Congress  of 
ygieneat  The  Hague;  American  Public  Health 
Association  at  St.  Louis;  the  Plumbers'  Congress, 
London ;  the  Sanitary  Institute  at  Dublin ; 
National  Convention  of  the  Master  Plumbers  of 
the  United  States  at  Baltimore. 


Bound  in  doth,  with  Index,  $3.     Postage,  40  cents. 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER, 

140  William  Street, 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  15^.  New  York. 


"American   Sanitary   Engineering? 

BY    EDWARD    S.    PHILBRICK,    C.  E. 

Fully  Illustrated  with  thirty-two  Figures  and  Plans  of  Sewers  and  Sewer- Appliances, 
Ventilating  and  House-Draining  Apparatus,  etc, 

AMERICAN  SANITARY  ENGINEERING,  by  Edward  S.  Philbrick,  C.  E.,  is  written 
by  a  gentleman  of  great  experience  in  planning  sanitary  works,  and  is  especially 
adapted  to  the  difficulties  met  with  in  constructing  such  works  in  climates  of 
greatly  varying  temperatures.  It  contains  a  very  careful  summary,  in  brief  compass, 
of  the  principles  of  city,  suburban,  and  household  sanitation.  The  subject  of  which  it 
treats  is  generally  recognized  to  be  of  steadily  growing  interest  and  importance,  not 
only  to  the  architect,  engineer,  and  builder,  but  also  to  the  general  reader  and  house- 
holder, who  has  a  vital  concern  in  understanding  the  principles  which  secure  health  in 
his  home.  In  this  book  has  been  presented  for  the  first  time  in  this  country  a  resume 
of  the  entire  subject  in  a  clear  and  convenient  form  for  professional  and  non-profes- 
sional men.  Its  value  was  promptly  recognized  and  testified  to  by  the  public  press, 
some  of  the  notices  of  which  we  quote  : 

OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


The  great  interests  of  health  and  life,  the  dan- 
gers which  threaten  both,  and  the  means  of  pre- 
serving the  one  and  prolonging  the  other,are  treat- 
ed in  these  lectures  in  a  manner  to  attract  public 
attention.  There  are  no  subjects  of  household  or 
municipal  economy  more  pressing  or  important 
than  the  ventilation  and  drainage  of  houses,  the 
construction  and  ventilation  of  sewers,  the  drain- 
age of  towns,  and  other  provisions  for  the  sanitary 
interests  of  crowded  cities  and  villages  ;  and  Mr. 
Philbrick's  experience  as  an  engineer  and  an  ex- 
pert on  many  of  these  questions  especially  quali- 
fies him  to  treat  them  intelligently.  Every  house- 
holder and  every  builder  will  find  in  this  volume 
suggestions  of  great  value. — Boston  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser. 

A  dozen  lectures  covering  in  a  peculiarly  sug- 
gestive and  practical  manner  the  subjects  of 
ventilation,  house  and  town  drainage,  sewerage, 
and  the  like.  The  matter  is  presented  in  a  way 
well  calculated  to  command  attention  from  home- 
makers  as  well  as  house-builders  and  sanitary 
engineers.  The  methods  and  appliances  recom- 
mended have  been  chosen  for  their  fitness  to  meet 
the  conditions  of  our  climate,  our  modes  of  life, 
and  more  obvious  sanitary  needs. — Scientific 
American. 

A  useful  contribution  to  the  common-sense  lit- 
erature of  the  day,  and  one  which  largely  concerns 
the  dwellers  in  our  great  municipalities,  which  are 
frequently  managed  on  the  reverse  of  sanitary 
principles. —  The  Evening  Mail. 

The  Sanitary  Engineer  has  just  issued  a  little 
volume  on  the  subject  that  will  no  doubt  prove 
of  interest  to  the  people  of  all  our  large  cities.  It 
is  a  compilation  of  twelve  lectures  delivered  before 
the  School  of  Industrial  Science  at  the  Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology  in  1880,  and  con- 
tains many  valuable  hints  that  builders  would  do 
well  to  take  advantage  of. — New  York  Herald. 


This  book  consists  of  a  series  of  lectures  deliv 
ered  at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technol- 
ogy, in  Boston.  We  are  glad  that  the  interest 
they  awakened  has  led  to  their  present  publication 
in  connected  form.  Not  merely  sanitary  engineers, 
but  all  householders  and  dwellers  in  houses  who 
are  concerned  with  the  vital  questions  of  ventila- 
tion and  sewerage,  will  welcome  this  suggestive 
and  instructive  volume.  Men  do  not  wish  to  be 
left  at  the  mercy  of  builders  and  plumbers  ;  yet 
too  often  they  are  helpless  victims,  because  they 
do  not  know  where  to  go  for  competent  and  dis- 
interested opinions  concerning  rival  methods  and 
devices.  The  literature  of  the  subject  consists 
largely  in  puffs  of  patent  contrivances,  proceeding 
from  their  inventors  or  vendors.  Mr.  Philbrick's 
opinions  are  free  from  this  ground  of  suspicion, 
and  are,  moreover,  based  upon  the  condition  of 
American  society,  which  is  not  always  the  case 
with  those  of  foreign  authors. — Engineering-  &" 
Mining  Journal. 

The  Lectures  on  American  Sanitary  Engi- 
neering, recently  delivered  by  Edward  S.  Phil- 
brick  before  the  School  of  Industrial  Science  at 
the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  and 
printed  in  part  in  the  Sanitary  Engineer 
and  the  A  merican  A  rchitect,\\&ve  been  published 
in  a  slim  octavo  volume  from  the  office  of  the 
Sanitary  Engineer,  New  York,  with  thirty  illus- 
trations. These  lectures  furnish  the  reader, 
professional  or  unprofessional,  with  a  very  thor- 
ough and  intelligent  discussion  of  a  very  import- 
ant subject. — Boston  Journal. 

The  ventilation  of  buildings,  the  drainage  of 
towns,  and  systems  of  sewerage  receive  much 
careful  and  thoughtful  attention.  Contains  much 
valuable  information,  and  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  every  householder. — American  Machinist. 


Bound  in  cloth,  $2.00. 


Postage  paid. 
THE   SANITARY   ENGINEER, 


140  William  Street, 
Obtainable  at  London  Office,  92  and  93  Fleet  Street,  for  IQJ.  New  York. 


THE  PRINCIPLES 


OF 


VENTILATION  AND  HEATING 


THEIR  PRACTICAL  APPLICATION. 


BY 


JOHN  S.  BILLINGS,  M.D.,  LL.D.  (Edinb.), 


Surgeon  U.  S.  A  rmy. 


PROFUSELY   ILLUSTRATED. 


This  interesting  and  valuable  series  Of 
papers,  originally  published  in  THE  SANI- 
TARY ENGINEER,  have  been  re-arranged 
and  re-written,  with  the  addition  of  new 
matter. 

The  volume  is  published  in  response  to 
the  general  demand  that  these  important 
papers  should  be  issued  in  a  more  con- 
venient and  permanent  form,  and  also 
because  almost  all  the  reliable  literature 
on  this  subject  has  been  furnished  by 
English  Authors,  and  written  with  refer- 
ence to  the  climate  of  England,  which  is 
more  uniform  and  has  a  higher  proportion 
of  moisture.  The  need  of  a  book  based 
upon  the  conditions  of  the  American  cli- 
mate is  therefore  apparent. 

The  following  will  indicate  the  character 
of  the  subject-matter : 

Expense  of  Ventilation — Difference  Be- 
tween "Perfect"  and  Ordinary  Ventila- 
tion— Relations  of  Carbonic  Acid  to  the 
Subject — Methods  of  Testing  Ventilation. 

Heat,  and  some  of  the  Laws  which 
Govern  its  Production  and  Communication 
— Movements  of  Heated  Air — Movements 
of  Air  in  Flues — Shapes  and  Sizes  of 
Flues  and  Chimneys. 

Amount  of  Air-Supply  Required — 
Cubic  Space. 

Methods  of  Heating:  Stoves,  Furnaces, 
Fire-Places,  Steam,  and  Hot-Water. 

Scheduling  for  Ventilation  Plans — 
Position  of  Flues  and  Registers — Means 


of  Removing  Dust — Moisture,  and  Plans 
for  Supplying  It. 

Patent  Systems  of  Ventilation  and  Heat- 
ing— The  Ruttan  System — Fire-Places — 
Stoves. 

Chimney-Caps  — Ventilators — Cowls  — 
Syphons — Forms  of  Inlets. 

Ventilation  of  Halls  of  Audience — 
Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church — The 
Houses  of  Parliament — The  Hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

Theatres — The  Grand  Opera-House  at 
Vienna — The  Opera-House  at  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main — The  Metropolitan  Opera- 
House,  New  York — The  Madison  Square 
Theatre,  New  York — The  Criterion 
Theatre,  London — The  Academy  of 
Music,  Baltimore. 

Schools. 

Ventilation  of  Hospitals — St.  Peters- 
burgh  Hospital — Hospitals  for  Contagious 
Diseases — The  Barnes  Hospital — The 
New  York  Hospital — The  Johns  Hopkins 
Hospital. 

Forced  Ventilation — Aspirating-Shafts 
— Gas  Jets — Steam  Heat  for  Aspiration — 
Prof.  Trowbridge's  Formulae— Application 
in  the  Library  Building  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege— Ventilating-Fans — Mixing- Valves. 

The  book  is  free  from  unnecessary 
technicalities  and  is  not  burdened  with 
scientific  formulae. 

It  is  invaluable  to  Architects,  Physi- 
cians, Builders,  Plumbers,  and  those  who 
contemplate  building  or  remodeling  their 
houses. 


SOLD    BY    ALL    BOOKSELLERS. 
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Address,  .  BOOK  DEPARTMENT, 

THE  SANITARY  ENGINEER,  140  WILLIAM  ST.,  NEW  YORK. 


OBTAINABLE  AT  LONDON  OFFICE,  92  AND  93  FLEET  STREET,  FOR  15  SHILLINGS. 


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